The ISU men’s track team is glad to be “home.”

Although not officially a home meet, the mindset for the ISU men’s track team this weekend is to prove themselves to the home crowd just 30 miles south of campus at the Drake Relays from Wednesday through Saturday.

“We like to think that this is our home outdoor track and our home outdoor meet,” said hurdler Eric Parker. “We’ve got quite a few Iowa kids on the team, and we always try to have one of our best showings of the year just for the home crowd.”

Although the meets following the Relays are more important, coach Steve Lynn said Drake takes on added importance to the Cyclones because of the proximity.

“From a standpoint of recognition, it’s probably the biggest meet we have all year for an Iowa State team,” Lynn said. “The Big 12 meet is more important to us, but from a recognition standpoint and from a fun standpoint, Drake Relays is the biggest meet of the year.”

Last year’s meet saw the Cyclones take only one championship, as the shuttle hurdle relay team of Parker, Kellen Burl, Sterling Frison and R.J. Sumrall were able to win despite rainy conditions. With all members of the team returning with the exception of Sumrall, who was replaced by Scott Lynn, this year’s team feels they have a chance to repeat.

“I think we can run with anyone. It’ll be nice to run against some tough competition down there, it’ll push us to our limits,” Parker said. “I think we have the guys to win it this year, just like last year.”

Since the shuttle hurdle relay is not an event at the NCAA National Championships, this weekend is the final chance to run the shuttle hurdle. This year, however, the competition will be tougher, as Texas Tech will be the favorite, Parker said. Also on the line are bragging rights against intrastate rival Northern Iowa.

The Cyclones will also be represented on a number of other events. Guor Majak, Kiel Uhl and Dan Taylor will all eye a regional qualifying time in the 5,000-meter run as other distance runners will field a 4-mile relay and distance medley relay. The 4×400-meter relay team has already reached the NCAA regional qualifying mark and will take on a number of top teams in the race, including NCAA Championship favorite Baylor.

Julian Morris will compete in the high jump, Robbie Utterback in the discus and Jayden Russ in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

Despite only winning one race last year, the Cyclones did take three second-place finishes, with Chase Madison in the discus, Neil Hines in the decathlon and David Rotich in the 1,500. Rotich, however, graduated last year, and with Hines resting for the Big 12 Championships and Madison being redshirted because of injury, Lynn said he still thinks the rest of the team will step up despite the loss of those three.