Forty-three universities, clubs and unattached entries will compete at the ISU Open this weekend at Lied Recreation Center.

“There will be around 1,000 athletes present” men’s track coach Steve Lynn said. “In every event, there will be 10 good people. Also, there will be national level participants there.”

Although there will be some fine competition at the home meet, women’s coach Dick Lee expects good things from his team.

“There will be no big rivals present, mostly a lot of Division I and Division II teams,” Lee said. “[All the people] will be good competition which will be a big challenge for us.”

The weekend meet will be the second home meet of the indoor season. The last time the teams competed at home was at the ISU Holiday Classic Dec. 12.

“We are not as rested as we were in December, but some are ahead of where we were,” Lee said. “We will have girls racing different events, which will be a new experience for some.”

Lynn also expects some differences between the two meets.

“We expect to be better,” Lynn said. “We are excited at home, but we have to measure ourselves against ourselves.”

Cyclone athletes also have expectations for the ISU Open. James Lopes, who competes in the 60-meter hurdles and 4×400 relay, and Susan Sherman, weight throw and shot put throw, hope to perform well at the home meet. Lopes said that since this meet is closer to the Big 12 meet everyone looks to take this more seriously.

I hope for a lot of improvement from last weekend and to help knock some rust off,” Lopes said. “I have to be ready to perform and keep looking forward to the conference meet,”

Sherman, who won the weight throw event at the first two meets of the season, said there will be better competition at this meet, but she still expects a good performance.

“I did well at the Wisconsin meet, so I expect to do well at this meet,” Sherman said. “I won the Wisconsin meet with a throw of 62 feet. Both of my last two throws, I threw 64 feet, but I scratched both times. I was really disappointed. So now I hope to throw over 62 feet.”

Sherman said she feels more comfortable at home meets because she gets to sleep in her own bed.

The home meet also has some advantages for Lopes.

“It is much better running here because we are used to training here,” Lopes said. “It is a bigger track, and you can get better times. The home track advantage will lead to better performances.”

Lopes expects to drop time in two events.

“Last meet was the first meet that I ran the 4×4 [relay], so I expect to drop time a lot at this meet,” Lopes said. “In the 60-meter dash I expect another faster time than last week.”

This being her senior year, Sherman’s goals are set high for the indoor season as a whole.

“I want to throw better at every meet,” Sherman said. “I plan on going to nationals in the weight throw. Hopefully I will win the Big 12 and continue on to the NCAAs.”