The Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational this weekend in Lincoln, Neb. marks the first time the track team will travel on the road this season.

It also marks the first career road meet for many Cyclones. Of the 62 men on the team, 26 are freshmen, making this meet a learning experience.

“This meet is an opportunity for our freshmen to get on the road and get used to going through the motions and having to perform outside our track here,” coach Corey Ihmels said.

This weekend’s meet will have some fierce competition, some of which the freshmen have not seen much of in the past two meets in Ames. Assistant coach Nate Wiens believes, however, that Iowa State will stack up well against the competition.

“I think some of our top people are going to get out there and feel right at home … and I’m hoping those that haven’t had the exposure to big meets really grab that opportunity to run well and compete well, so I think we’ll stack up alright,” Wiens said.

The coaches believe the freshmen on the team have a lot of potential and, being a large portion of the team, they will be a major factor in this weekend’s meet.

“What we’re looking for this weekend is for our young people to step up and I think that is going to be one of our strongest areas this weekend,” Wiens said.

This meet is crucial in the learning process for the freshmen, mainly learning how to deal with running on the road and the mental preparation required for road meets, Ihmels said. More importantly, this meet gives the freshmen the chance to run against competition they have yet to experience.

There will be a slew of big name schools at the meet this weekend — Michigan, UCLA and Colorado will give the ISU freshmen the opportunity to experience the emotions that come with running against premier programs.

This meet will provide the coaching staff with the opportunity to evaluate the potential for what the team can do come postseason.