The ISU track teams will be challenged in their strongest areas this weekend.

The men and women will both journey to Missouri for the Tom Botts Invitational, hosted by the University of Missouri. Notre Dame and Illinois will also be at the meet.

At last weekend’s Clemson Invitational, the Cyclone men claimed four victories. Jamal Salahuddin was a double winner for Iowa State in the shot put and discus.

Matt Murdock won the javelin and Craig Cartier won the 1,500-meter run.

Their competition this week won’t be easily intimidated, though. Russ Bell and Christian Cantwell give Missouri one of the most potent throwing squads in the nation.

“The throwers are going to go up against some really stiff competition,” men’s coach Steve Lynn said. “It will be good to see how they respond to those guys.”

Cartier will also be challenged to obtain another victory.

“I think that one of the feature races of the meet will be the 1,500,” said Lynn, who said the field will include runners who can run the mile under four minutes.

Even though Iowa State’s runners have not run such elite times, Lynn expects the competition to help them.

“If the weather is good, I think that [several of] our runners could better the regional qualifying mark [in the 1,500],” he said.

In contrast to last weekend’s meet, team scores will not be kept.

“That’s fine, because we can focus on one or two events for each guy,” Lynn said.

In a scored meet, there is more focus on putting athletes in multiple events, in order to score more points.

The women’s team will generally enter its athletes in the same events that they competed in at Clemson, women’s coach Dick Lee said.

One of the few changes will be Jessica Huff running in the 800-meter run instead of the 1,500, which she won last weekend.

Lee said that the change will provide “a little more of a speed session” for Huff. He said she will probably alternate between running the 800 and 1,500 for the next few meets.

Either race would provide strong competition, Lee said.

“Notre Dame and Missouri have some good distance kids,” he said. “I expect the 800 and 1,500 to be very competitive.”

Susan Sherman and Gina Rickert will look to continue the success that they have enjoyed throughout the indoor season.

“[Susan] will be one of the top throwers [at the meet], but she may not do more than two throws,” Lee said.

Sherman has experience in the discus, shot put and hammer. The shot put is the most likely event for her to drop this weekend, Lee said.

Rickert already owns the stadium high jump record of 6-1 1/4, set last year. She has nearly cleared 6-4 this season, so a new record is not unlikely.

The women were hampered last weekend by colds and hard practices. Lee said that most of his team is now healthy, but tiredness could still be an issue.

He said the team is training “a little less hard, but still pretty hard.”

In addition to the Tom Botts Invitational, both teams will send a few individuals to the Jim Duncan Invitational at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, but Lynn and Lee both said their focus will be in Missouri.

The Tom Botts Invitational starts at 2 p.m. Friday in Columbia, Mo. The Jim Duncan Invitational starts at 10 a.m. on Saturday.