The ISU men’s and women’s track teams head to Northern Iowa on Saturday to take on their intrastate rivals in the Panther Classic.

“Drake will be there. Iowa and Wisconsin are also sending parts of their teams,” men’s track head coach Steve Lynn said.

“Northern Iowa will be competing also. There will be some good teams at this meet.” Neither the men’s team nor the women’s team will be sending its entire team to the meet in Cedar Falls.

“It’s not going to be a very big thing, we are only sending up part of the team for the meet this weekend,” women’s head coach Dick Lee said. “The ones going are sprinters up to the 800-meter run, not any of the distance or field athletes.”

He also said the main focus for the athletes competing will be improving the events in which they are competing, but not necessarily the times in their runs.

“I doubt we will see time improvements this weekend,” Lee said. “Their track up there is a bit slower than our indoor one here, so I don’t think they will be looking to improve their times, just to get more work in for their events.”

Some of the women’s team will not compete because of the need to rest following the ISU Open. The rest will also benefit preparations for the Iowa State Classic on Feb. 11.

“Many of the kids need a time to rest between the two big home meets,” Lynn said.

The men are also not sending distance runners for the meet, although they are sending field athletes.

Lynn said he expects a high level of competition in Cedar Falls, and the main focus of the meet is for his athletes is to improve their individual events.