For the third time in this outdoor season, the different squads of the men’s and women’s track and field teams will compete in different parts of the country. The majority of the distance runners on the teams will be heading to Walnut, Calif., for the Mount Sac Relays while the sprinters, throwers and jumpers will make their way to Lawrence, Kan. to compete in the Kansas Relays.

Returning to action for the men’s distance squad will be two NCAA qualifiers from a year ago in junior Hillary Bor and senior Kiel Uhl.

Bor was the runner-up a year ago at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and with the graduation of BYU’s Kyle Perry, the winner of that race, the target will be on Bor’s back for this outdoor season.

“I think he’s way further ahead than he was last year at this time, I think he’s as fit as he’s ever been and as confident as he’s ever been,” coach Corey Ihmels said. “By no means are we in end of the year shape but I think he’s in pretty good shape I think he has a chance to scare the school record so we’ll see how the field does and kind of how he reacts.”

Uhl will be back on the track after recovering from a nagging foot injury at the Big 12 Indoor Championships.

“He’s fit and he’s ready to go too,” Ihmels said. “I expect him to run pretty fast, he ran [28:56.85] last year at Stanford and I think he should be able to be right around that.”

Uhl’s time at Stanford last season provisionally qualified him for the NCAA Outdoor Championships where he finished 23rd in the 10,000-meter run.

Following competition on Thursday and Friday in Walnut, a few of the middle distance runners will travel to Cerritos, Calif. to compete in the Beach Invitational.

In Lawrence, the Cyclone sprinters, throwers and jumpers will be in action at the 83rd running of the Kansas Relays.

At last season’s meet, sophomore Kianna Elahi and senior Lashawn Wright led the sprints squads with Elahi’s first-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles and Wright’s two second-place finishes in the 100- and 200-meter dashes.

“With Kianna, we’re still debating whether it’s the 400-meter dash or 400 hurdles she’ll run,” assistant coach for sprints and hurdles Nate Wiens said.

Elahi was the champion in the 400-meter hurdles at the Bobby Lane Invitational two weeks ago, running a time of 59.89 seconds.

“We’re going to move them around a little bit, it’s a little different track so we don’t run too many 200-meter runners there so Lashawn will probably run [4×100 meter relay] and 100-[meter dash] and just work on getting into a rhythm of racing,” Wiens said.

Last weekend the throwers had a record-nearing weekend as three Cyclone throwers tossed their way closer to the school records in the hammer throw. Junior Josh Koglin and sophomore Zack Richards placed themselves at second and third on the ISU all-time list and senior Britta Christofferson’s throw landed her in second place all-time.

First-year throws coach Grant Wall was excited with what he saw last Friday and can see their marks improving the rest of the season.

“The nice thing about [Britta] and Zack and Josh is that those weren’t even great technical throws for them, there’s a lot of room for improvement which is exciting,” Wall said.

Wall’s expectations for the Kansas Relays aren’t quite as high following the performance at the Sun Angel Classic in Tempe, Ariz., but rather looks for this weekend to be a springboard for the upcoming Drake Relays.

“I think we’re all still dragging a little bit from the trip this past weekend,” Wall said. “We’re just looking for it as a competition where if we catch something that’s great but if not then we’re just getting another competitive meet before Drake.”

Although the Drake Relays are a week away, the coaches are already looking forward to the 101st running of the event.

By early next week Ihmels hopes to have the relay teams decided on for Drake and he is optimistic about the chances they might have, especially if senior Lisa Koll makes a return to the track after breaking the collegiate record in the 10,000-meter run three weeks ago.

“I think we can put together some really good relays I think that we have an opportunity in the women’s distance medley to have a pretty good team if Lisa gets on the track,” Ihmels said.

Ihmels also noted that the men’s distance medley and men’s and women’s 4×400-meter relay teams could also be in contention in Des Moines next weekend.

“We got a chance to win two or three relays and we haven’t done that in a long time,” Ihmels said. “So I think we have got a chance, there is a difference between winning and having a chance, but if we can get out there and be competitive I think that would be a good step for us.”

Competition at the Kansas Relays will begin on Thursday with the men’s weight throw at 12 p.m. In Walnut, Calif., and the Mount Sac Relays will get underway at 5 p.m. Thursday.