The ISU men’s and women’s track teams ready themselves to compete this weekend against more than 1,500 athletes from Division 2 and Division 3 teams around the Midwest, as they compete in the ISU Open.

Although there will be a high number of teams and athletes, most of the teams will be from the lower divisions. The meet is a chance for them to show off their talents and prepare for their seasons.

“This is one we open up and let the smaller schools come in,” said women’s coach Dick Lee. “It’s a chance for them to get qualified for their nationals. They like running on this track, because it’s a fast track.”

Lee noted that the meet in February, the Iowa State Classic, will feature a lot more Division 1 teams.

Both the men’s and women’s teams saw success against Nebraska last weekend, but said they hope to be able to improve on their performances. For the men’s team, getting better is the biggest goal of the meet.

“This is going to be almost more like a training event for us, we’re not trying to peak for this meet in any way, it’s just matter of getting out there,” said men’s coach Steve Lynn. “Having everybody just get better and compete to try to win, that’s the whole thing. Every event, every person that’s in there you’re trying to reach the highest level you can.”

In addition, Lynn said he feels the team will be excited to compete in front of their fans.

“The guys will be excited because they’ll get a chance to run in front of their friends and families and get a chance to do some stuff at home,” Lynn said.

The men look to build off some strong performances of last week, including David Rotich’s second-place finish in the 1000 meter run, which earned him third place on Iowa State’s all time performance list in the event. Dan Taylor also took second in the mile run, and Jared Graham took second in the 600-yard run.

“I felt the meet last weekend had a lot of positives in it,” Lynn said.

The women’s side is also primarily looking for improvement.

“We hope to see continued improvement over this past week,” Lee said. “We’re a sport where you just look at continuous improvement week by week, we don’t expect to be at our best during the indoor season until we get into mid-February.”

Jumps and Vaults Coach Ron McEachran echoed the statements, noting that for his athletes, a big area of improvement will be emotions.

“So I’m not really looking at performance, we’re not going to be super-rested for this meet,” McEachran said.

“Hopefully we do things a little bit better, manage our emotions a little bit better.”

The women’s team is coming off of a meet at Nebraska in which Ada Anderson and Sara Boisen finished first and second in the 800-meter run.

Rebecca Williams and Erica Lynn took second place and third place in the 60 meter hurdles, respectively.

The first event of the two-day meet starts at 4 p.m. Friday, and the meet continues at 10:25 a.m. Saturday at Lied Recreation Athletic Center.