Six members of the Cyclone track and field squads have made it to the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships held March 13-14 in Indianapolis, Ind., at the RCA Dome.

Representing the Iowa State women’s team are Kris Curnyn, Trina Radske, Lisa Griebel and Erin Bresnan. The two Cyclone men who qualified are Jason Woods and Saul Lempirikany.

All-Americans Curnyn and Radske will be making return trips to the indoor meets after earning their first All-American honors at last year’s indoor competition.

Radske will participate in the long jump. She is ranked seventh in the country going into nationals, with her best leap measuring 20-9 3/4. Curnyn will toss 20 pounds across the field in the weight throw. Her 61-2 1/4 mark places her 16th in the nation.

“This is my chance to become a two-time All-American,” Radske said. “That’s been a pretty big goal of mine.”

She said she feels fairly well prepared for the competition and is happy that she’ll have the company of three of her teammates.

“We seem to be getting more and more women going to nationals every year. It’s great,” she said.

“I feel pretty lucky to have gotten in this year,” Curnyn said.

“It’s going to be tough. I’m ranked pretty low, [but] anything can happen at these meets,” she said. “I’m just hoping for a big throw.”

“This is the most women who have made it to nationals. I think it’s just great that we have a variety of events going,” she added.

Griebel and Bresnan will be making their debuts at the championship competition in the shot put and 800-meter run respectively.

Griebel, who championed the Big 12 Indoor Competition in the shot, was also named Big 12 Indoor Newcomer of the Year.

“It’s crazy and surprising all at the same time. I knew I was close, but I didn’t expect to make it to nationals,” she said.

Her goals for the competition include doing her best and hopefully achieving a personal record. But she said, “Just being there is an honor.”

Bresnan garnered honors as the most improved Cyclone on the ISU cross country team last fall and as the most improved track runner in the spring of 1996.

She is the first female runner to go to the contest since Karen Glerim participated in the mile in 1993.

“I’m really excited about this weekend. It’s been the goal of my entire college career, except that I never thought I would make it,” Bresnan said.

On the men’s side, All-American Woods is making his fourth appearance in a national competition.

Woods, who has attended two outdoor competitions, will be in his second trip to the indoor competition. In the 1997 indoor meet he placed fifth in the 55-meter hurdles.

Woods automatically qualified for nationals in early February. He heads into the race with the fifth fastest time in the nation.

Men’s Coach Steve Lynn said, “The hurdle field, it’s a pretty veteran group. Ten of the 15 people are seniors. Jason has run against quite a few of these guys before.”

“Jason’s running really well right now,” Lynn said. “He’s ready to go. I certainly feel like he could be in the mix.”

The other qualifying Cyclone comes from the distance squad. Lempirikany, who earned All-American status in the 1997 National Cross Country Championships with a 25th place, will leg the 5,000-meter race.

It’s his first appearance at an NCAA track meet.

Lynn said Lempirikany got some solid and “tremendous” training done during the indoor. Unfortunately, he became sick before the conference meet, and his ranking in the 5,000 dropped from 10th to 15th but was still good enough to qualify.

Because of the illness that has prevented Lempirikany from training as much as he’d like, Lynn said, “I’m not sure what to expect in the meet from him. I know he’ll compete real hard.”

Lynn said the field will be tough and Mebrahtom Keflezighi, the NCAA cross-country champion from UCLA, is a favorite.