The squads that form the ISU men and women’s track teams were fortunate during the indoor portion of the season to never have to travel to compete. The Cyclones had the opportunity to host eight separate track events at their home track inside Lied Recreational Athletic Center, which allowed the team to keep nearly everyone well rested and free from the exhausting nature of traveling nearly every weekend. 

Iowa State hasn’t been quite as lucky during the outdoor portion of the season as they have been on the road and have begun to experience the grind of traveling. So far in this young outdoor season the Cyclones have traveled to five different states, including California and Arizona.

“As much as I love outdoor track, it’s really a struggle for us continuity wise since we are never together,” said coach Corey Ihmels of his team constantly being divided in separate states so far during the outdoor season. 

Wednesday will mark the start of the closest thing to a home meet the Cyclones will experience in the outdoor season, the 101st running of the annual Drake Relays. Located roughly 45 minutes south of Ames, the Drake Relays are the athletic crown jewel of Drake University that attracts the country’s premier collegiate athletes, as well as professional track athletes and former and potential Olympians. 

Ihmels said getting his athletes in a history-rich environment like Drake Stadium will put the team in a position to compete at a high level against some of the best performers in the country, as well as watch some of the best in the world.

“It’s important to not make it bigger than it is, it’s not the Big 12 [Championships], it’s not nationals, but its fun,” Ihmels said. “ It’s one of those things that’s just fun. We don’t have an outdoor track, but somebody gets the baton in front and you’re from Iowa State and you’re at Drake Stadium — you’re going to hear the crowd.”

The roar of the crowd will come from some of the most enthusiastic track fans in the world as they come for the Drake Relays one year after the 100th anniversary of the spectacle that takes place on Drake’s famously blue track.  Record attendance marks were set at last year’s event as 23,320 fans attended one session of the meet.

The competition that will be coming to Iowa State’s home away from home for the weekend can also watch as Iowa State also looks to put on a showcase of talent. The Cyclones will bring several former Drake Relays champions to the starting line, including several Iowans that are looking forward to experiencing some of that “home” crowd atmosphere inside Drake Stadium.

“I heard that coming back to Drake in college is pretty nice because everyone cheers from the Iowa schools and it’ll be pretty good to be back in a familiar place, back where it all started,” said freshman sprinter Patrick Lewis. 

Lewis hopes to continue on with some of his past successes on the blue track as last year’s high school champion in the 100-meter dash returns to the stadium for the first time.  The Cedar Rapids Xavier grad will join two Fort Dodge graduates in senior distance runner Lisa Koll and freshman sprinter Brian Sandvig.

Koll has had numerous successes in track and field, but still appreciates the atmosphere that Drake University provides.

“Going to Drake in high school it’s very nostalgic and having NCAA’s there two years ago, I have had some very good experiences at Drake,” Koll said. 

As a newcomer to the collegiate experience at Drake Relays, Sandvig will try to improve on his second place finish in the 4×400-meter relay as a junior at the Drake Relays.

“I can’t wait for this meet actually, my whole life I’ve been looking up to the Drake Relays, this is what we wanted to get towards as high schoolers,” Sandvig said. “Now it’s just another college meet but still we want to do really well.” 

Athletes and coaches alike are prepared and excited to put on a show in front of the Iowa crowd as they look to take home several Drake Relays titles back with them. 

“We know that we have the capability of getting up there and actually winning a few relays so it’s about maximizing which ones we can win,” sprints coach Nate Wiens said.

Maximizing performance and the experience at an event that’s so important to the state such as the Drake Relays is something that clearly hasn’t escaped Wiens.

“The fun thing for us is the home Iowa crowd,” Wiens said. “I think all of the Iowa schools kind of like it because you have a lot of great fans in Iowa, great track and field fans and a lot of good tradition with the track and field programs here.” 

The Drake Relays in Des Moines will take place Thursday through Saturday.

The Cyclones take to the track for the first time in Friday’s competitions.