The blue oval in Drake Stadium is relatively quiet 51 weekends out of the year, but for one weekend it is awakened.

That one weekend is the Drake Relays, one of the most prestigious meets in the nation. As the events began Thursday night, it marked the 100th time that the Drake Relays has been put on, a remarkable feat for any meet.

Drake is known for its high-caliber meet and the good athletes that it brings in year after year. Athletes flock from all states to come compete in Des Moines, but luckily for the Cyclones, for them it’s only a 30 minute drive. The Iowa State runners and throwers have a competitor in almost every event.

The men’s team comes into Drake with three NCAA Regional qualifiers, and hopes to leave with more. The level of competition at Drake could help with that.

Teams from coast to coast are travelling to Iowa this weekend and are bringing some of the nation’s best track athletes for competition, which bodes well for thrower Zac Brouillette.

“The better the competition, the better I perform,” he said.

Brouillette, who hold school records in the hammer throw and weight throw, will again look to set a school record this weekend.

Hillary Bor will also compete this weekend. Bor made his outdoor season debut last weekend in the steeplechase. This weekend he will stick to simply running as he will compete in the 1,500-meter run, the race in which he barely missed competing in at NCAA Championships during the indoor season.

Although a majority of the team will be travelling down to Des Moines, Guor Marial will not be making the trip. Marial will compete in Berkeley, Calif., along with Lisa Koll and Grace Kemmey. Although the Drake Relays is a big meet, head coach Corey Ihmels said it isn’t the biggest.

Ihmels said the conference meet is what the team is really focused on and Drake is just another meet — a big meet, but just another meet to help get the team ready for the conference meet.