The ISU track and field team will venture west for a dual-meet weekend in California.

Beginning Friday is the Stanford Invitational held in Palo Alto and the San Francisco State Distance Carnival in San Francisco. The team looks to bring its success from the indoor season to the outdoor and face athletes from different schools from around the country.

With it being early in the outdoor season, the team has an opportunity to pack in a lot of good competition within one weekend after not having a meet since the Tulsa Duals opener on March 19.

“Last week we didn’t have a meet and it was kind of a hard week,” said sprinter Derek Jones. “This week we recovered and my legs felt really good over the hurdles.”

The meet will mimic ones such as the Big 12 Championships and Nationals with prelims and finals.

Jones, who will run the 400-meter hurdles and the 4×400 relay, is excited to see competition that he doesn’t normally get to compete against.

“Stanford is a big school. I think we will see a lot of runners that we don’t typically get a chance to run against, which will be a huge blessing,” Jones said.

The athletes also have a chance to qualify for the US Olympic trials, NCAA Championships and Regionals against a large number of competition.

“I’m expecting a time that will qualify me for the regionals,” Jones said.

He hopes to run somewhere in the low 52’s or 51’s.

Wyatt Rhoads, a freshman, is still getting used to competing at the collegiate level. He will make his debut in the decathlon at this weekend’s matchups.  

“It’s definitely different,” Rhoads said. “Especially making the transition from just hurdling in high school to being a decathlete and all of the new events.”

At the Tulsa Duals, had personal bests at the meet and fostered a good start to the outdoor season.

This weekend, Rhoads believes that focusing on the little things will help make the big meets this weekend successful.

Brandon Wheat and Jacob Aune, both distance runners, will run the 800-meter, making it their outdoor debuts. Daniel Nestor and Nathan Rodreriguez will also make their outdoor debuts in the 5,000. 

The month of April will be a busy one for the Cyclones, with 12 meets taking place all around the country, including two in Des Moines.