The ISU women’s track and field team will head to the banked track of the Bob Devaney Sports Center at the University of Nebraska for the Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships this weekend.

The Cyclones look to make an impression in one of the toughest conferences in the country. The Big 12 features three teams ranked in the top 25 in the latest U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association poll.

“The Big 12, along with the SEC, are the two toughest conferences in overall and in the sprints in the country,” said sprint coach Ronnie Williams. “If you can make the final and score in the Big 12, chances are you are going to qualify for the indoor national championships.”

Distance runner Lisa Koll will be a favorite to lead the way for the women’s team with a top performance. Koll will run in the 5,000-meter and 3,000-meter runs. Koll currently holds the second fastest 5,000-meter time in the nation. Her time of 15 minutes, 52.37 seconds is second only to fellow Big 12 runner Sally Kipyego of Texas Tech. Kipyego and Koll are no strangers, having run against each other many times in both conference and national meets, and they look to have another classic battle this weekend.

Koll will be joined in the 5,000 by fellow Cyclone Grace Kemmey. Kemmey is making her Big 12 Indoor debut and is ranked fifth in the conference heading into the weekend.

The Cyclones will look to another newcomer to help lead the charge this weekend. Freshman sprinter Brittany Machacek will look to make an impressive conference debut this weekend, but admitted to battling nerves.

“I am definitely nervous for this weekend, but I’m more excited to see what happens,” Machacek said. “I’m expecting the competition to be very stiff, and I know that I’m going to have to perform my best to be part of that competition. My individual goals for this weekend are to run a personal record in the 400-meter dash, shooting for a 54 [seconds], and also to make it to the final. I feel as if we are a new team and we are here to make a statement this weekend.”

Williams will be looking to both Machacek and fellow sprinter Lashawn Wright to carry a lot of the load for the sprinters.

“I think that Lashawn Wright, Brittany Machacek will lead our women’s sprint group,” Williams said. “My expectation for this weekend is for the sprint group to run well. The big goal for the sprint group is to have an athlete score in every sprint race at the Big 12.”

Unlike Machacek, Wright will have the benefit of knowing exactly what the Big 12 will be like. Wright was thrown into the lion’s den last year and battled through to have an impressive freshman campaign, and her sophomore season has been even more impressive – she ran a career best in the 60-meter dash at the ISU Classic and came away with two wins.

“I think having previous experience has helped me because I’ve made the mistakes in the past, and this year I’ve had time to fix them, so I have to go out and do my best, no excuses,” Wright said. “Big 12 is a pretty good conference and I know who my competition is, but I’m not worried about them – I’m worried about myself and my team and the things we need to focus on to make it to the top.”

All of the Cyclones will need to be focused as they battle some of the nation’s best this weekend, and Williams thinks they are.

“We just really get prepared, both mentally and physically, for a very tough weekend,” Williams said. “Practice is going well – I think we are ready to run well.”