Iowa State track and field is gearing up for another big weekend at one of the biggest collegiate track and field events in the nation: the Drake Relays.

The annual Drake Relays will be held in Des Moines, Iowa, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. In addition, part of Iowa State’s team will head back to Eugene, Oregon, to run in the Oregon Relays on Friday. 

Since its last competition, the Iowa State men’s team has fallen five spots in the NCAA rankings. Headed into a big weekend at the Drake Relays, they are currently sitting at the No. 14 spot in the country. The women are still currently unranked.

One notable entry for the Cyclones at the Drake Relays is freshman Janette Schraft. 

The last time Schraft ran at Drake University was in the Jim Duncan Invitational, and she made her presence known. She competed in the women’s steeplechase and posted a time of 10:36.26 en route to winning the race. The mark is good enough for the fifth-best all time in Iowa State history in the event.

On Thursday, Schraft will suit up to run in the women’s 1,500-meter run. The event is scheduled to start at 6:16 p.m.

Kevin Sakson, another Iowa State freshman, is getting ready to compete Friday in the men’s shot put and discus.

Sakson competed earlier in the year at the Blue Oval Open in the men’s discus. There, he finished first overall in the event with a best throw of 51.35 meters. 

The men’s shot put is set to take place at 1:45 p.m. Friday and discus at 4:00 p.m.

The Drake Relays will host a 4×1,600-meter relay, a unique event Iowa State does not get to compete in often.

Representing Iowa State in that race will be Thomas Pollard, Mitchell Day, Gable Sieperda and Jeffery Pedersen. 

All four runners have had successful races in a variety of events leading up to the Drake Relays. The 4×1,600-meter relay will begin at 2:57 p.m. Friday.

In the women’s 1,500-meter run, Cailie Logue is scheduled to compete for Head Coach Martin Smith. 

Logue is a junior from Erie, Kansas, and is a two-time All-American. She currently sits at the No. 9 spot in Iowa State history in the event with her personal record of 4:21.23 set back in 2018 at the Sun Angel Classic.

The women’s 1,500-meter run is set to kick off at 6:10 p.m. Friday. 

The men’s middle distance program for Smith will see a large number of entries in the 800-meter run. Iowa State will have a total of five runners compete in that event.

Running for the Cyclones will be Alexander Lomong, Leonel Perez, Nehemia Too, David Thompson and Joe Schaefer. The men’s 800-meter run is scheduled to begin at 9:21 a.m. Saturday.