LINCOLN, Neb. – Racing against your own teammates can be fun, but it’s always better to race against somebody with a different logo on her suit.

The ISU swimming and diving team gets its first chance this season to compete against non-ISU students this Friday at the Big 12 Relays.

Last Friday, the Cyclones competed in an intrasquad meet with the Cardinal team defeating the Gold team, 103-78.

Swimming coach Duane Sorenson said the team members raced very well against each other.

“I was very pleased looking at the swimmers that swam the same events last year,” he said. “Almost everyone either equaled or bettered their time so we’re ahead of last year.”

Sophomore Lindsay Wegner echoed the sentiment.

“I felt that everyone held their own,” Wegner said. “We’re at a higher place than where we started last year.”

Three of the teams battling Iowa State this weekend finished with a top 25 ranking nationally last year: No. 8 Texas, No. 13 Texas A&M and No. 25 Missouri. Kansas and host school Nebraska will also be taking to the water.

Sorenson said this will be a good chance to see where the Cyclones stand in the conference.

“It is just an opportunity to stand up and race against the other teams in the Big 12 conference,” Sorenson said.

“We have some people swimming off events due to our lack of depth but we’ll go out there and have a lot of fun and see where we stack up.”

The Cyclones finished sixth at last year’s Big 12 Relays, held at the University of Missouri.

The schedule of events is greatly different from a normal meet, especially since all of the swimming races are relays. Additionaly, there are very few distance races.

Sorenson said this will affect his lineup a lot.

“We are kind of shorthanded with all of the relays,” Sorenson said.

“With only one real distance race, someone like Chelsey Walden ends up swimming some backstroke events.”

Senior Cassandra Nelson said this meet will be a good opportunity to test the waters.

“It will be a good chance to see how fast we can go,” Nelson said. “I just want to get out and race even it is isn’t my best race.”

The next meet for the Cyclones will be their home opener at Beyer Pool on Oct. 20 against South Dakota State University.

The Big 12 Relays will be held at 8:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. at Devaney Natatorium in Lincoln, Neb.