Eric Parker has a strong message for the teams Iowa State will compete against in the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays in Austin, Texas.

“We’re going to show everyone down in Texas what Iowa State’s all about,” Parker said.

Top teams from around the nation will compete in the meet, which begins Wednesday and goes through Saturday. Along with the Texas Longhorns, competitors include a number of other teams from the state of Texas, including Big 12 opponents in Texas A&M, Texas Tech and Baylor.

Coach Steve Lynn said the meet is important to the local schools, and the Cyclones want to steal the show.

“For the schools down there it’s the Olympics, it’s a huge deal for them. There’s a lot of bragging rights involved,” Lynn said. “Our guys want a part of that.”

This is only the third meet of the outdoor season for Iowa State, as part of last weekend’s meet at Missouri was rained out, putting the Cyclones further behind. Lynn said the lack of outdoor competition for Iowa State gives teams in warm-weather areas an advantage.

“They have had several outdoor meets already that we haven’t had,” Lynn said. “If we show well down there, that gives you confidence for the rest of the year, because they should be ahead of us right now.”

Neil Hines will compete in his first decathlon of the season after narrowly missing the NCAA Indoor Championships in the heptathlon. Hines has one goal – to qualify for outdoor nationals.

“It shouldn’t be difficult at all for me to qualify for nationals,” Hines said. “That’s why I’m down here. All I have to do is not screw up. I don’t have to do anything amazing.”

Hines said he wants to qualify early in the season so he can keep his body well-rested heading into the season’s later meets in the Drake Relays, Big 12 Championships and eventually to the Outdoor Championships.

“Being healthy at that point is going to be huge,” Hines said. “Everything I’ve been doing has been setting myself up for that, making sure my body’s in good condition at the end of the year.”

Hines will face tough competition with indoor champion Donovan Kilmartin from Texas and third-place finisher Raven Cepeda from Northern Iowa.

Decathlon events start Wednesday and conclude Thursday.

Others who will compete include Parker in the 110- and 400-meter hurdles, Kellen Burl in the 110 hurdles, Jared Lewis in the 100-meter dash and the 4×400 and 4×200-meter relay teams. Lynn said he expected all the athletes traveling to Texas to be in the NCAA Regionals by the end of the year.

The rest of the team will head to the Mark Messersmith Invitational on Saturday in Cedar Falls. This is a big meet for throwers Robbie Utterback and Zac Brouillette since weather kept them from competing at Missouri, Lynn said. The distance runners will also be at Northern Iowa.

Events for the Texas Relays start at noon Wednesday with the heptathlon, while the events at Northern Iowa start at 11 a.m. Saturday.