In every sport, the conference championship is the goal. This rings true in track and field. The ISU coaches stressed this from the start of the season. Preparing for these meets, however, is not always the easiest thing to do.

“This is one of the most important meets of the year. We want to do well at Big 12’s. I tell the kids this is where it has to be done,” assistant coach John Dagata said. “We started working for this meet last June so it’s important.”

Last year, the Cyclones finished 11th at the Big 12 Championships. This year, however, the team believes they are better prepared than they have been in a while.

The Cyclones will also try to use their performance at the ISU Classic as a slingshot into Big 12 Championships. Many athletes who provisionally qualified at the Classic are looking to improve on their times. Runners Hillary Bor and Guor Marial, along with throwers Luke Pinkelman and Zac Brouillette are primed to build off previous competitions.

“I think I’m prepared better than the Classic, looking forward to it. I’m hoping it will be a big meet, and I’m looking forward to competing with the Big 12 guys,” Marial said.

Marial, who has already provisionally qualified in the 5,000, feels he can go down there and score for the team.

“This weekend I feel like I’m in good shape, so I just feel like running a few laps and waiting for it. The best thing I can do is make the final,” Bor said, “This time we have like four guys who have broken four minutes in our conference, but I think I’m ready for it.”

Bor won his race at the ISU Classic, but narrowly missed the qualifying time of 4:04. He feels he took advantage of the week off as he did quite a few hard workouts.

Brouillette and Pinkelman, who have both provisionally qualified, said they felt confident about this weekend, too.

“I feel good — our coach has gotten us really prepared. We’ve taken it easy in the weight room, [Dagata] is trying to get us to peak so I feel really good, so everything is right for success right now,” Brouillette said. “The competition at the Classic was better than what will be at conference so going against those guys definitely gives me a chance to practice what I want to do in the big meet.”

James Galvan and Elphas Sang also provisionally qualified in the 800-meter run at the Iowa State Classic, and also made their way into the top 20 nationally. Galvan is ranked 11th overall and Sang sits at 19.

“That event area, in our conference, is one of the toughest. We’ve got two or three of the top five guys in the country right now so hopefully those guys can get in there and mix it up a little bit,” Ihmels said.

Overall, Ihmels feels good about team morale heading into this weekend. This is his second Big 12 Championship meet.

“I think we’re coming together, I think we’re starting to gel a bit and starting to see some areas come together and start to work. We just have to get on the track and see how things shake out this weekend,” Ihmels said.