With the outdoor regular season coming to a close Friday and Saturday, the Iowa State men head into the weekend as the No. 7-ranked team in the country, up seven spots from the previous week’s rankings. The Iowa State women are currently unranked but building momentum as the season winds down. 

Both teams are coming off a stellar weekend last Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Drake Relays and the Oregon Relays. The men defended their Drake Relays Champion Cup, and the women fell just short of the same award, placing a close second place behind the women of North Dakota State University.

Now, for the final meets of the outdoor regular season, the teams will be headed to Lawrence, Kansas, for the Rock Chalk Classic and Leavenworth, Kansas, for the Trials of Miles Kansas City.

One athlete who is entered in multiple events at the Rock Chalk Classic is Gable Sieperda.

The redshirt freshman from Rock Rapids, Iowa, is having an outstanding outdoor season for Head Coach Martin Smith. 

Already this spring, he has set new personal bests in the 1,500-meter run with a 3:52.72 at the Jim Duncan Invitational and an 8:51.41 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Virginia Challenge meet.

Sieperda will be set to run in both the men’s 1,500-meter run at 7:50 p.m. and the 5,000-meter run at 9:35 p.m. Friday.

Another Iowa State newcomer set to run Friday is freshman Janette Schraft.

Schraft has had quite the debut outdoor season for Smith, setting new personal bests in the 1,500-meter run with a 4:23.97 at the Drake Relays and a 10:36.26 in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Jim Duncan Invitational.

She is entered to run in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase at 8:15 p.m. Friday.

On Saturday, a notable entry for the Cyclones is in the women’s 4×400-meter relay.

Representing Iowa State will be the group comprised of Zakiyah Amos, Bria Barnes, Erika Furbeck and Kaylyn Hall. 

Smith has tinkered with the lineup in this event; however, Barnes, Amos and Furbeck have all run together in this event earlier on in the season. 

The last time the three competed in the 4×400-meter relay, they were joined by Katarina Vlahovic, and their group went on to finish sixth place at the Michael Johnson Invitational with a time of 3:44.81.

The women’s 4×400-meter relay is scheduled to begin at 3:50 p.m. Saturday.

In addition to the 4×400-meter relay, both Barnes and Amos are scheduled to run in the open 400-meter dash as well. 

This event is scheduled to take place at 1:35 p.m. Saturday.