At this weekend’s Tom Botts Invitational, two members of the men’s track team will compete in an event they seldom run — the steeplechase.

Distance runners Kyle Rasmussen and Ryan French will be the only Cyclone participants in the event.

Assistant coach Corey Ihmels said the steeplechase is similar to cross country, but has different obstacles.

“The steeplechase is a 3-kilometer run, with a combination of hurdle-like barriers. After [each] hurdle are water jumps. You can either jump over the hurdle or jump off the hurdle, but either way you will get at least one foot in the water,” Ihmels said. “There are 35 bars altogether.”

Ihmels, who used to run for Iowa State, said it takes three things to successfully compete in the steeplechase.

“First of all, it takes an athletic individual [to run the steeplechase],” Ihmels said. “Second, you need someone who knows how to hurdle. Finally, you need to get into a rhythm [and] keep focus after hitting the hurdles.”

Ihmels said this meet will allow French and Rasmussen to gain experience in the difficult event.

“Both are tough competitors [and] I think this event is right for them,” Ihmels said. “Both have some experience. This will be Kyle’s second time, and Ryan French has run this a couple times before. If everything goes well, both guys will compete in [the steeplechase at] the Big 12 [meet].”

Runners in the steeplechase have had a history of success at Iowa State. Men’s head coach Steve Lynn said Iowa State has had Big Eight champions, Drake Relays champions and All-Americans in the event.

Rasmussen said the steeplechase will be his event for the rest of the season.

“I ran it once before at UNI, and there were only two other people in the race,” Rasmussen said. “I have gained in strength, so now I can hurdle like a hurdler.”

Rasmussen said dealing with the water is the most difficult part of the run.

“If you don’t jump far enough [over the hurdle], your feet get wet,” Rasmussen said. “It is much harder to jump the hurdles when you’re wet.”

The women’s team will not have any athletes competing in the steeplechase. Women’s head coach Dick Lee said the weather might hinder some of his competitors.

“The weather forecast for Missouri is not too good. It is supposed to be raining down there,” Lee said. “Rainy weather is not good for the track. If it is raining, we will pull people out for safety. So the weather might affect our performance and competitiveness.”

Lee said women’s teams from Missouri, Notre Dame, and Iowa will be present. Iowa’s men’s team will not be there.

“It is a nice, compact meet, good competition,” Lee said. “It is not a team-scored meet, so there are no team score goals. Usually, we just work on individual goals, but that depends on the weather.”

Two women’s runners — Karen McCormick (5,000-meter run) and Jenny Mockler (800-meter run) — said they are looking forward to the meet.

“Last week, we just practiced, and now we look to just improve with [the] Drake [Relays], the Big 12 [championships] and regionals all coming up,” McCormick said. “Everyone will be strong and have more energy.”

Mockler said that there will be good competition present at the Tom Botts invite.

“This will be good preparation for the Big 12 [championships],” Mockler said. “There will be four good quality teams there. I would much rather run against four good teams than 10 bad ones.”

Mockler also has other reasons for looking forward to this meet, as her parents will come all the way from England to watch her compete.

“This will be the first time that my parents will get to watch me run at Iowa State,” Mockler said. “This is the first time that they got time off of work and get to come over and watch me. I hope to run well and qualify for regionals for them at Missouri.”