The Cyclone track team will head outdoors for the first time this season.

Sophomore Hillary Bor returns as the fastest Steeplechase runner in the nation, and Bor said he just wants to get on the track.

“I’m just looking forward to my first race,” Bor said, “I just want to get out there and see what I am capable of running.”

Bor, along with much of the distance squad, will travel out to Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif. this weekend for the Stanford Invitational, one of the premier outdoor meets in the country.

The guest list for the Stanford Invitational includes teams such as Washington, Washington State, California, BYU, Hawaii, and many others.

The other group of athletes will travel the opposite direction to Raleigh, N.C. for the Raleigh Relays meet.

“We’re excited to get outdoors and to see where we’re at, and that means taking two groups to two different places, North Carolina and California,” head coach Corey Ihmels said, “…I think it will be a great start to the season.”

Because this will be the first outdoor meet of the year, the Cyclone men don’t have a clear idea of where they are at as a team. The Cyclones ended the indoor season on a high note, with their best Big Twelve finish since 2000, and will try to use that momentum to help gauge where they will end the outdoor season.

This weekend also marks the first of many weekends where the Cyclones will be a divided team.

A divided team won’t have as much momentum built up at the end of the season compared those who stay together.

However, the coaches said that won’t affect their team, which will not be competing together again until May 15 at the Big Twelve Outdoor Championships.

The first meet of the season is just to get the athletes’ feet wet in racing and for the coaches to get a feel for the team as a whole.