Steve Lynn

Recently: March 6 — NCAA Qualifier, Ames (no qualifiers); March 12-13 — NCAA Indoor Championships, Fayetteville, Ark. (no qualifiers); March 26-27 — Sun Devil Open, Tempe, Ariz. (four first-place finishes)

Coming up: April 3 — Northwest Missouri State Invite, Maryville, Mo.; April 9-10 — Tom Botts Invitational, Columbia, Mo.; April 17 — UNI Open, Cedar Falls; April 22-24 — Drake Relays, Des Moines; April 29-May 1 — Big 12 Outdoor Championships, Norman, Okla.; May 14-15 — Georgia Tech Invitational, Atlanta; May 29-30 — NCAA Midwest Regionals, College Station, Texas; June 9-12 — NCAA Outdoor Championships, Austin, Texas.

Q: What’s the biggest change from the indoor to the outdoor season?

A: It’s like a whole new season; the setup is different because we’re outside, and the weather affects things. It mainly affects the throwers — it’s totally different for them; they throw modified javelins that you can throw indoors.

For the shot put, they’re a different size. It weighs the same, but for indoors it’s plastic and bigger, and for outdoors it’s metal and smaller. The biggest change [for throwers] is they go from just throwing the shot or just the 35-pound weight to throwing the hammer and discus or the discus and shot. It makes it tougher since [they’re] doing a couple of different things.

Q: What events change or are new to the outdoor season and who would you like to highlight from these events?

A: Now we throw the hammer instead of the 35-pound weight, which is totally different in how you do it. In the hammer, [we’ve] got Tony Stewart, Kendall Fogle and Kris Ruhland. You don’t do either [the discus or the hammer] inside. We’ve got Jamal Salahuddin in the discus and shot.

With the hurdles, the race is longer; we go over 10 hurdles outdoors instead of five indoors. The 400-meter hurdles is a race we don’t have indoors. We have Ryan Boyington and Justin Sherman in that event. In the javelin, [which isn’t done indoors, we’ve] got Tyson [Hilgenberg] and Matt [Murdock]. Also, the 4×100-meter relay and the steeplechase [are events we only do outdoors].

Q: You practice at the Lied Recreation Center for the indoor season. Where do you practice outdoors?

A: At the Southwest Athletic Complex out by Towers and the cross country track.

Q: Do you feel that teams that have been practicing outdoors have a decided advantage because you are still practicing indoors because of the weather?

A: Last week, we had some nice weather, so that was good for them to get outside before heading down to Arizona [for the Sun Devil Open]. For Arizona State, that was their third outdoor meet. They’re training outside all the time. We have to look at it as a challenge. Some teams have been outside since February.

— Ricky Rud

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Julie Manning

Recently: March 15-16 — Anteater Invitational, Irvine, Calif. (tied for 11th); March 27-28 — Mountain View Invitational, Tuscon, Ariz. (tied for second)

Coming up: April 12-13 — Suzie Maxwell Berning Invitational, Norman, Okla.

Q: How do you feel the spring season is going so far?

A: I feel like we’ve been really scrambling up and down. We’ve been getting really good starts the first two rounds, but significantly gotten worse in the last round. I think Tuscon (Sun Devil Open) is exactly what we needed. It couldn’t have come at a better time.

Q: What kind of impact does Lisa Meshke bring to your team, knowing she is healthy and competing after not playing in the fall due to an elbow injury?

A: I think it takes a lot of stress off of the other players. She brings a peace of mind, and we get a solid performance from her every time out. She has put a lot of pressure on herself to get back to normal, so we’ve tried to pull her back a little to calm her down. We are trying to let it come to her.

Q: After placing second in the last meet, what are your expectations heading into the next meet in Norman, Okla., and the Big 12 tournament?

A: We surpassed expectations going into our last meet. I think it sends a message to [the team] internally that we can do it. I think it creates a lot of confidence that we can compete in the upcoming meets. It’s in the back of our minds that we need to compete well in the next couple meets before heading into the NCAA Central Regionals.

Q: What have been some highlights this year?

A: Two individual highlights that come to mind are Lisa Meshke and Cindy Whitmore. Their individual performances, especially at the last meet, are very pleasing. Meshke coming out and performing well every meet really raises everyone’s confidence level. Whitmore had a nice meet in Tuscon shooting 75 and 72 the first two rounds, which is great because she works very hard. We like to see individual awards because it gives confidence to everyone. Finishing in second place at the last meet has been the biggest team highlight of the season.

— Matt Carlson

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Ruth Crowe

Overall Record: 8-17

Conference Record: 1-1

Last games: March 27 — 8-5 loss at Texas Tech; March 28 — 7-4 win at Texas Tech

Coming up: April 1 — Northern Iowa; April 3-4 — Texas A&M

Q: Coming into Big 12 play, do you expect the team to do better against familiar teams, or is there a disadvantage to it?

A:Every year is different, because every year the teams are dramatically different. Perceptions don’t really match reality a lot because the powerhouses don’t always pan out.

This year, for example, Oklahoma is 0-4 in the Big 12, and they were expected to be big. You just have to play it out, and you can beat some people because sometimes having a winning tradition can hurt you. Last year, we beat them and they were No. 3 in the nation. You just play and work hard. I don’t know if we’re mature enough for that this year, though.

Q:How has the team performed so far this season compared to your expectations?

A:I think we’re right about there. I knew we would struggle because of our youth. People expect them to go right from high school to our level and compete right away. There’s a maturation process to go through, but I think we’ve done some really good things so far.

Q:What player has surprised you in her play so far this season?

A:The person who hasn’t gotten real regular playing time would be Heather McLatchie. She’s not leading the team in hitting, but she’s getting on base and is much more confident. She’s developed into the type of player we hoped. Everyone has done what we expected but Heather has had the least opportunity and done the most with it.

Q:Who are some players (or play from positions) that you need to help step up and carry the team for the rest of the season?

A:I think Cary Akins, Julia Lindsey — really all of the upperclassmen and the infield — are all expected to help carry the team. The newer, younger players are the icing on the cake, but the cake is the experienced players. All the upperclassmen that are playing just need to keep giving as much as they can.

— Ben Bramsen