When the ISU women’s track team opens the indoor track season on Friday, plenty of young athletes will hope to make a lasting first impression. Coach Dick Lee will rely on veteran leadership to guide the youthful Cyclones into the rigors of the Big 12 track season.

“We return several outstanding individuals; several kids who have been at the big meet in years past,” Lee said.

Senior hurdler-sprinter Rebecca Williams will be one of the seven seniors called upon to lead the Cyclones throughout the season. Williams has qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the 100-meter hurdles the last two years and is hoping to build on that success.

“Training has been going really well, with so many new people it’s been different, but everyone is looking a lot stronger,” Williams said.

Sara Boisen will also play a vital role in the development and success of the Cyclones.

Boisen, a senior, earned a seventh-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles last year at the Big 12 Outdoors and will be one of the top 600-yard runners in the conference heading into the indoor season.

The Cyclone runners will also benefit from the return of 2005 Big 12 Outdoors triple-jump champion Agata Kosuda, who also placed fourth in the Big 12 in the long jump at the Outdoor Championships, but redshirted last indoor season because of an injury.

Jenna Caffrey will be crucial in the success of the season. Caffrey, a freshman from Burlington, is a high school Drake Relays champion and will have to make a quick transition from high school to Division I running.

“I’m just expecting the best in everything,” Caffrey said. “It’s definitely a big step, but I feel like my teammates and coaches will prepare me for everything.”

The Cyclone distance runners will be lead by seniors Jenny Mockler and Meredith McKean and sophomore Lisa Koll. Mockler, from Liverpool, England, has been a scorer for the Cyclones in the past in both the indoor and outdoor Big 12 Championship meets. Koll, a sophomore from Fort Dodge, hopes to continue her success from her fall cross country season in which she garnered All-American honors by placing 36th at the national meet in Terra Haute, Ind.

The Cyclones will host the Big 12 indoor meet this year. Lee views this as a perfect opportunity to run well.

“If we have a great meet, it would be great to finish in the top six and get three to five kids qualified for the indoor nationals,” he said. “That would be a great accomplishment.

“We have some kids with high goals and we have others that are young, developing athletes that are still trying to find out what college-level running is like.”

Still, with all the young bodies on the track team, Lee noted that practice has gone well and the ladies have worked hard in the young indoor season.

“We have a group that’s working hard and are focused and enjoy what they are doing,” he said. “With those things combined, it makes it fun for them to be at practice as well as the coaches. They enjoy working and enjoy working out with each other, so it’s a fun group to be around,” Lee said.

Friday’s Holiday Preview meet begins at 2 p.m. at the Lied Recreation Athletic Center.