After a two-week break, the ISU women started their outdoor season last weekend at the Arizona State Invitational.

The women performed very well considering the dynamic change in temperature.

“For our first outdoor meet and dealing with some heat that we had not been exposed to, we had some good performances,” said head coach Dick Lee. “The temperature was in the 90s while we raced.”

Aurelia Trywianska, the 60-meter hurdler who went to nationals, won the 100m dash.

“She’s better off on the longer race than the short,” Lee said. “She has good speed all the way through.”

Jessica Huff and Anna Hauskins both had personal best times, which helped them to win their respective events.

“Probably our best performance was Jessica’s; that was a personal best for her in the 1500. And also Anna Hauskins won the 800 at a personal best time. Those were probably our two best performances,” Lee said.

The continuous cold weather took its toll on the track team as it battled against temperatures that were twice as hot as anything that it has faced in the Midwest this winter.

“A lot of the kids had not had a chance to really do anything very fast on an outdoor track just because our weather’s been so bad,” Lee said. “It’s completely different when you move from inside to outside. You’re dealing with wind and heat and everything else, and with the track being bigger, it takes a couple meets to get into it.”

Despite the heat and track differences that affected the meet, Lee still has an optimistic outlook for the rest of the season.

“Overall, we were pleased with how we looked for our first outdoor season,” Lee said.

Two women, who red-shirted during the indoor season but look to do well for the team now, are Lisa Greibel and Barbara Szlendakova.

Greibel is the team’s nationally ranked shot-putter who competed unattached during the indoor season to be able to compete in it next year.

Greibel’s throws from the indoor season would have placed her in the top of nationals if she had chosen to compete, so good things are sure to come from her in the coming weeks.

With warm weather in the forecast for the rest of the week, the women should be ready for the meet this weekend in Austin, Tex. at the Texas Relays.