The Iowa State men’s and women’s track teams are preparing to compete in the inaugural Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships to be contested Friday and Saturday at the Bob Devaney Center in Lincoln, Neb.

Running event preliminaries start at noon on Friday, while Saturday’s events begin at 11 a.m.

“There aren’t going to be any cheap points,” said Steve Lynn, ISU men’s head coach.

“Probably the biggest change is going to be the competition for points from fourth to eighth place. The top spots in the Big Eight were always outstanding, but now you’ll have to perform at the highest level to qualify for the finals,” he said.

Dick Lee, ISU women’s head coach says the Cyclone women should be a factor this weekend as well.

“We’re making progress with every meet,” Lee said. “We’re geared up for this weekend and I feel that we have a chance to place in the first division.”

The women’s championship figures to be a showdown between the host Nebraska Cornhuskers and the Texas Longhorns.

The Cornhuskers, who won the last 17 Big Eight indoor team titles will battle a Texas squad that claimed the final 12 Southwest Conference team titles.

The Cyclones will be led by long jumper Trina Radske and Kris Curnyn in the throws.

Radske, the school record holder in the long jump with an indoor best of 21-0 3/4, ranks second in the Big 12 and fourth nationally.

Curnyn’s 61-6 effort in Ames two weeks ago places her second in the Big 12 and seventh nationally.

Nebraska should be the team to beat in the men’s competition.

“They are the defending champions and the meet is at their place,” Lynn said. “Oklahoma has its best team in years. I like our team and if we stay healthy I believe we can be a factor in the meet.”

The Cyclones are a balanced squad that features All-American sprinters Franklin Nwankpa and Quinn Harris in the 55-meter dash.

Nwankpa and Harris have the two fastest conference times in the 55- meter dash at 6.12 seconds and 6.19 seconds.

Nwankpa was second in the 1995 Big Eight 55-meter dash final.

All-American Randy Thompson should also be a factor in the 200-meter dash, he was third in that event in the Big Eight Championships last season.

All-American Corey Ihmels ranks fourth nationally in the mile (4:00.93) and has the fastest performance among his fellow Big 12 competitors heading into this weekend.

Cyclone All-American Jason Woods also looks to perform well at the Big 12 Championships.

Woods currently has the Big 12’s fastest time in the 55-meter hurdles (7.22) and ranks seventh nationally.

Yago Lamela-Tobio and Tim Wilson will lead Iowa State’s field events this weekend.

Lamela-Tobio earned All-American honors last season in the long jump, while Wilson won the 1996 Big Eight indoor shot put crown.

“One of the biggest things we have going for us at Iowa State is that our athletes have always had their best performances at the conference meet,” Lynn said.

“There is no key area for us to be successful. We will have to have performances from athletes in every field event, distance, hurdles and sprint groups. The challenges of a Big 12 Championship has raised the stakes in terms of what kind of performance is required to score points.”