When a team travels to the Texas Relays to compete in one of the biggest track meets in the nation, it can usually guarantee three things: Some of the best competition in the nation, large crowds and an opportunity to run in warm weather in early April. Unfortunately, the Cyclones only got two of those incentives over the weekend.

A large crowd and a strong field welcomed the Cyclones as they traveled to Austin, Texas, to strut their stuff against the nation’s best. At the event some call the “Olympics of Texas,” the Cyclones, running against some schools that have already ran four or five outdoor meets, had a solid weekend with a couple of personal bests, but also a few disappointments.

During an uncharacteristically frigid Texas Relays, the cold weather hindered some opportunities to make finals and put a damper on what could have been a very positive weekend for the Cyclones.

Rebecca Williams won her heat in the 100-meter hurdles, but was unable to qualify for finals. Because she ran in the last heat, Williams had to wait the longest in the cold weather without warm-ups, which may have played into the results, especially when a majority of the finalists came out of the first few heats.

“It was certainly colder than anytime that I’ve been down there; the last day it was in the 30s and raining,” said sprint coach Scott Roberts. “We had a situation where our 100-meter hurdlers had to take their sweats off and stand there in the cold for almost a half-hour.”

Freshman hurdle ace Jenna Caffrey did her best to not allow the weather to affect her performance.

“I don’t mind the cold weather, we just had to stand out there without our sweats on and tightened up,” Caffrey said.

Caffrey ran her best collegiate time in the 100m hurdles with a time of 13.95 seconds, narrowly missing the regional-qualifying time. Caffrey is adjusting to the tough competition and rigors of Division I track and field, and Roberts said she will continue to run faster as the season goes on.

No stranger to the Texas Relays, freshman sprinter Lashawn Wright, a native of Mesquite, Texas, ran the relays multiple times in high school and made an impressive return to the Lone Star state by running a career-best time of 12.09 seconds in the 100m dash.

The Cyclones return to action this weekend at the Jim Duncan Invitational in Des Moines.