For the first time this season the Cyclone men’s track and field team will be competing at two separate meets this week. The two will overlap slightly, meaning that anyone competing in the first meet will not also be competing in the second. Tucson, Arizona will be the host location of the Jim Click Shootout Multi’s, while Tempe will be hosting the Sun Angel Track Classic.

Of the many Cyclones on the men’s roster, only one consistently competes in the decathlon. Wyatt Rhoads will be the lone man competing for Iowa State over the two day stretch beginning April 6^th.

“It’s a little less stressful to be competing by myself,” Rhoads said. “I can allow myself to take my mind off the track occasionally, which begins to wear on me mentally as well as physically.”

Though Rhoads hasn’t competed in many meets this year, and this being his first outdoor meet this season, he’s still seen success.

So far he’s set a couple personal records as well as run some times to satisfy himself in some of his events. There are ten events total, which are broken up between on the track and on the field.

The ten events are: 100-meter dash, long jump, shot put, high jump, 400-meter dash, 110-meter hurdles, discus throw, pole vault javelin throw and 1500-meter run.

“I’d say the most difficult thing for me so far is the shot put, I’m not quite built for that,” Rhoads said. “I’ve also picked up the pole vault pretty quickly and I did hurdles in high school so those come more naturally.”

While Rhoads is competing in his events, the rest of the athletes slated to compete will be travelling to Tempe.

The Cyclones will have representatives for track and on the field, one of which is Chris Celona.

Celona has been competing most of this season, including taking part in the weight throw during the indoor portion. He had his ups and downs but hit his peak at the indoor conference meet, throwing his best distance of the season.

“Coach says it doesn’t really matter if you throw 40-meters all season,” Celona said. “As long as you throw a distance long enough to score at conference, it wipes it all away.”

Celona has already thrown some good distances in the hammer throw in the early stages of the outdoor season.

Last weekend Celona finished in fourth place in the event, throwing 175 feet. The meet prior he did even better by finishing first in the event. There he threw 183 feet, 10 inches, tying his career best.

“I’m just looking to stay consistent for the most part,” Celona said. “Once I get consistent, then I’ll have a base to build off closer to conference.”

Celona and Rhoads do share one thing in common, something that some of the track athletes don’t.

They get more than once chance to get their best result, Rhoads competing in multiple events and Celona getting multiple throws to achieve his best.

On the track, it’s usually just a one and done situation, unless that athlete is competing in a second event.

Despite having more chances to get positive results, there’s also just as much probability of a bad result.

“It definitely requires having a short memory,” Rhoads said. “You can’t let one bad event weigh down everything else.”