Iowa State track and field returns to action this weekend, as eleven Cyclone athletes will make the journey to Iowa City to take part in the Musco Twilight meet. The meet, held annually at the Francis X. Cretzmeyer Track at the University of Iowa, will be in its 20th running on Saturday.

The Cyclones had a busy schedule last week in California, with most of their roster competing across three meets in the greater Los Angeles area at the Mt. SAC Relays, Beach Invitational and Bryan Clay Invite. This weekend’s meet will be an opportunity for Iowa State to showcase their field events group especially, as many of their track athletes who traveled to the Golden State are getting a rest for this week.

Junior thrower Emily March leads the charge for the Cyclones in the field events department, having last taken to the circle two weeks ago at the Sun Angel Classic.

At that meet in Tempe, Arizona, March finished third in one of the most competitive discus competitions of the season so far, as she threw her best mark of 188 feet, 2 inches to place behind Jorinde Van Klinken and Alexandra Emilanov of Arizona State and Kansas respectively.

March, the school record holder in the discus, will also be making her collegiate debut this weekend in the javelin throw. Her teammate Sydney Willits, who has been Iowa State’s No. 1 in the event, will switch over to the long jump. Willits is coming off of her collegiate debut in the heptathlon, as she finished 22nd overall at the Bryan Clay Invitational 4,376 points in total.

Antonella Creazzola and Danielle Hoyle will join March in the hammer throw, an event that saw all three athletes break their personal bests last time out in Arizona. Creazzola led the way for the trio, as she finished fifth overall with a top throw of 193 feet, 5 inches to put her at No. 7 in Cyclone history. March followed in seventh by improving her hammer PR to 179-9, while freshman Hoyle built on her event debut at the Bobcat Invite in Texas by throwing for 158-5 in Tempe.

For the Cyclone men, Kevin Sakson will be back in the throwing circle after having a near-fortnight’s rest from his last outing in Arizona. At the Sun Angel Classic, Sakson finished fifth overall in the discus, as he produced a top mark of 58 feet, 6.75 inches to break his PR. Sakson now sits just outside the all-time top-ten list, as he trails Tim Wilson’s throw at the 1996 Wisconsin Invitational by less than an inch.

Sakson, who is also taking part in the discus throw, will be joined by Jonathan Gannon, who himself had a strong set of results at the Sun Angel Classic. Gannon broke his hammer throw personal best by throwing for 180 feet, 4 inches to finish in the top-ten. He then placed 22nd in the discus with a top mark of 146 feet. 

On the track, Joven Nelson will look to continue his success in the 400m hurdles. Nelson has improved his time in the event in each of the three meets so far this season, lowering it from 1:00.83 at the Bobcat Invitational in late March to 54.52 at the Bryan Clay Invite last week, where he placed 21st overall.

Also in the hurdling events for Iowa State will be freshman James Ezeonu, who will be competing in his fifth 110m hurdles race of the outdoor season. While the Cyclones hurdling program has been headlined by the likes of Katarina Vlahovic and Kaylyn Hall in recent weeks, Ezeonu, like Nelson, has shown consistent improvement in his races as well.

Trent Hamerski and Chase McPherson round out Iowa State’s track entries, with the pair set to compete in the 100m and 400m events respectively.

Hamerski is in the midst of his first outdoor season with the Cyclones, having transferred to the program before the start of the year from Minnesota-Duluth. He, like the field events group, last took to the track in Arizona, where he recorded a season-best in the 100m with a time of 11.36 seconds to place 25th overall.

McPherson will be running in his third 400m race of the season, having recorded a a collegiate-best mark of 51.74 seconds to finish 11th overall at the ISU Holiday Invitational during the indoor season. He, like Hamerski, is also from Minnesota, having ran a 400m PR of 50.04 as a standout at Minnetonka High School.

The Musco Twilight is set to begin at noon on Saturday, with live results available here. The meet will also be live streamed on BTN+.