Two of the top throwers in the Big 12 will lead the ISU men’s and women’s track teams to the Panther Open at Northern Iowa on Saturday.

The women’s team will be looking for points from shot put and weight thrower Susan Sherman.

Sherman threw 60-4 1/2 in the weight throw at the ISU Open last weekend, a throw that she said placed her in the top spot in the Big 12 rankings.

“Right now, I’m rated number one,” Sherman said. “But that doesn’t say anything because it’s so early in the season.”

On the men’s side, Rocky Moore grabbed the first-place slot for the shot put at last weekend’s meet and is ranked third in the conference. Moore also said it was still too early in the season to determine accurate rankings.

“There’s a guy from Nebraska that hasn’t thrown yet,” Moore said. “He was the NCAA champ last year.”

Both the men’s and women’s teams will see tough competition from Nebraska. The Nebraska men’s team has a No. 19 national ranking by Trackwire, an online ranking service, and the women are ranked No. 16. Iowa State is ranked No. 19 for women while the men are not ranked in the Top 25.

“Nebraska will put up a good fight,” Moore said. “So will Minnesota.”

Moore said he didn’t want to try to speculate where he would end up in the field because “it might jinx it.”

Sherman said she hopes to place first.

“Last weekend I was pretty happy with my throw but I hope to throw farther this weekend,” Sherman said. “I’ve done some really good work at practice this week.”

Both Moore and Sherman said specific team goals for the Panther Open had not yet been discussed. Practices are more individualized, Sherman said.

“Usually, we all do our own thing,” Moore said. “If we do good individually then it helps the team out.”

Despite not always practicing together, competing as a team helps to motivate the individual athletes.

Moore said the successes of his teammates make him want to compete harder to be just as good as they are.

“I want to do my best and score points for the team,” Moore said. “If not, I’ll just have to come back and work harder.”