While a large portion of the ISU women’s track and field team takes a break from competition this weekend, a handful of athletes will venture not too far from home to compete in the Jim Duncan Invitational on Friday and Saturday.

The athletes competing include senior Christina Hillman in the discus throw, junior Alyssa Gonzalez in the 400-meter hurdles, redshirt senior Hannah Willms in the high jump, redshirt freshman Katie Reeves in the high jump, and redshirt seniors Kayla Sanborn and Anna Holtermann in the hammer throw. 

The squad Iowa State will send may lack in quantity, but for the athletes who will compete, the invitational serves as an opportunity to improve in their respective events and potentially qualify for NCAA regionals.

And while the Jim Duncan Invitational may not have the big meet feel to it like the Drake Relays will later this month, there will be no shortage of competitiveness.

The Cyclones have experienced success in only short amount of time this season. At the team’s most recent events, the distance squad set four personal records at the Stanford Invitational, including a school record by Abby Caldwell in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.

“I thought [the team’s performance at the Stanford Invitational] was a lot better than it seemed on paper,” said ISU distance coach Andrea Grove-McDonough. “If you looked at the times they ran, [they] may not [be] overly impressive, at least from our perspective, at least from an Iowa State standard. They actually ran very, very well.”

Grove-McDonough said the highlight of the invitational was redshirt freshman Erin Hooker. Hooker ran a personal record in the 5,000-meter, which will earn her a spot in the NCAA preliminaries. The most impressive aspect of Hooker’s performance was the fact she ran with “half a shoe.”

“I thought [Hooker] handled it very well,” Grove-McDonough said. “It was really pretty unnerving. She lost her shoe about half way, it stayed on but it was like a slipper. She showed a lot of maturity with that. You could see that shoe kind of flopping and if you loose your shoe in the [5,000-meter] you’re done.”

While the Stanford Invite served as the distance group’s outdoor season opener, many of the field athletes and sprinters/hurdlers traveled south to the Tiger Track Classic for their second performance of the season.

“This past weekend, [my time in the 400-meter] wasn’t as fast [as the season opener],” said senior sprinter Kendra White. “My body was just having some aches, so that was unfortunate. But I don’t see it as a setback because I know what I can do and I know that I’ve been doing things in practice to progress.”

White will not compete in the Jim Duncan Invitational but will run at the LSU Alumni Gold on April 18. White said practice has been going well and she is looking forward to getting back on the track for a race.

Freshmen Jhoanmy Luque and Marine Vallet feature a strong one-two punch at the jumps position for the Cyclones this season. Vallet finished second in the high jump in her most recent event at the Tiger Track Classic, while Luque finished fifth in the long jump.

Vallet said her goal is to earn a qualifying mark for the European Championships and has been working on her lean in practice.

While the athletes continue to take separate paths during the regular season, one goal remains the same for all — keep both shoes on while competing.