The men’s track and field team will send a select number of athletes to compete in the Alex Wilson Invitational on Saturday. They will travel to Notre Dame’s campus to keep loose leading up to the Big 12 Indoor Championship.

“We mainly want to keep the momentum going,” assistant coach Jeremy Sudbury said. “We competed well and hope to continue that heading into our championship season.”

The Cyclones will compete in the 4×400-meter relay and the open 800-meter run.

The 800-meter run features Christian DeLago.

DeLago ran in the 1,000-meter run at the Penn State Invitational and finished in third place. Saturday’s race will be his third competition this season.

“We believe that Christian has the credentials to run a nationals qualifying time,” Sudbury said.

The team competing in the 400-meter relay includes Eric Fogltanz, Ben Kelly, Roshon Roomes and Jaymes Dennison.

Last weekend, the group was hoping to run a low enough time to qualify for nationals. Though they didn’t achieve that goal, they know its within their grasp.

“We’ve run a time around 3:08, which is usually pretty good across the nation,” Sudbury said. “Unfortunately, the Big 12 is about short distance, and we will have to run 3:07 low to be in the top five.”

The Big 12 Championship’s 4×400-meter event will be divided into two sections, based on previous event times. The Cyclones want to compete in the fast section, which encompasses the top five teams. 

It would give them the best chance for a national qualifying time, if they don’t achieve it this weekend.

“Our strategy doesn’t really change,” Sudbury said. “We’ve just got to go back to work and put it together.”