Iowa State’s indoor track season will begin to get down to the nitty-gritty at this weekend’s Iowa State Classic.

“Next to the NCAA meet, this is the next-best meet,” ISU men’s track coach Steve Lynn said. “There will be over 90 teams and 1,500 athletes competing. It is the equivalent of the Drake Relays.”

Teams attending the meet will come from around the country, including Alabama, Wisconsin and Oregon.

ISU women’s coach Dick Lee said there will be a high quality of competition at the meet.

“This will be one of the great Division I meets of the year, with several Big 12 teams,” Lee said. “It will be one of the top meets in the country to qualify people for the NCAA meet. Some [of these athletes] will be Division I champs in March.”

Rebecca Williams, who runs the 60-meter hurdles and the 4×400-meter relay, and Craig Cartier, who competes in the mile and distance medley relay, both said going up against this level of competition will be a great benefit down the road.

“We will be running against much tougher competition than before,” Williams said. “[This meet] will help us get ready for the Big 12 meet because we will be seeing much better competition. Running against fine competition will help us all run faster times.”

“This [meet] is huge,” Cartier said. “We will race to the high level of some of the guys coming in. We are confident that we can compete against this high competition, which may help us get tickets to nationals.”

Lee said he hopes to see Williams drop some time in the hurdles. Williams also has high expectations for the race.

“I am ready to clear every hurdle with better technique,” Williams said. “My time has been slowly coming down, and hopefully time will keep coming down.”

Lynn and Lee said they expect to see some of their athletes qualify for the national meet.

“Jamal Salahuddin has already met the provincial mark for the NCAAs and a few other guys have a chance after this meet,” Lynn said. “I look forward to watching the distance medley relay, Tony Douglas and Daniel Kaczmarczyk at this meet.”

The women are looking for their first NCAA qualifiers.

“We don’t have anyone who has qualified for the NCAAs yet, but hopefully we will after this meet,” Lee said.

This is the first of three critical meets for the track teams. Feb. 26-27 will be the Big 12 Championships in Lincoln, Neb., and the following week will be the Cyclones’ last chance to qualify for the NCAA meet at the NCAA qualifier meet in Ames. The Iowa State Classic will be held at Lied Recreation Center beginning at 4 p.m. Friday and all day Saturday.