Outdoor season debuts, a long list of competitors and three different meets represent the ISU women’s track and field team’s weekend schedule.

Competition kicked off Thursday night with a small group of distance athletes competing at the Kansas Relays in Lawrence, Kan.

Distance leaders Margaret Connelly and redshirt senior Katy Moen will make their first appearances of the outdoor season in the 5,000-meter run at the Mt. SAC Relays on Friday.

“It will be my first effort since indoor season,” Moen said. “I’m looking forward to it, there’s not a whole lot of expectations other than a solid performance. I might be bustin’ some rust.”

Moen said her focus has been on 10K work in practice — longer workouts and keeping up her mileage. Rewind a year ago and the Mt. SAC Relays proved to be a key component of a successful 2014 outdoor season for the then-redshirt junior. Moen finished seventh in the 10,000-meter run at the relays, shattering her personal record in the event by more than 1 minute and 20 seconds.

Connelly will compete in her first outdoor race as a Cyclone at this year’s Mt. SAC Relays. The graduate student is returning from a strong indoor season that witnessed her finishing third in the 3,000-meter run and second in the 5,000-meter run at the Big 12 Indoor Championship.

There will be also be a variety of field athletes and sprinters/hurdlers who will return south to compete in the LSU Alumni Gold on Saturday.

Senior Kendra White will make appearances in the 200-meter, an event she hasn’t competed in since her sophomore season, and the 400-meter, her premiere event.

“[I’m running the 200-meter] just to have fun [and] see how it goes,” White said. “I’ve been doing some speed work, so it’ll be good to see it put to use. “I’m hoping to go out and run a PR right away. I feel like I’ve gotten a lot faster since [my sophomore year], so I don’t think there’s any reason I shouldn’t be able to run fast.”

Senior shot putter Christina Hillman has yet to find out if she will compete in the discus and shot put at the LSU Alumni Gold. She is entered in both events but said she might only compete in one. If she does compete in the shot put, it will definitely be an event to keep an eye on, as she is the returning NCAA champion in the event.

“For me, it’s more about the technique,” Hillman said. “With discus, I get way to excited and the nerves build up. It’s almost the exact opposite with shot — I want to get excited for the shot put, but for discus, I have to calm down.”

Despite competing in three separate regions of the country, one theme remains constant for the Cyclones — gain experience.