In a team-packed event, the ISU women’s track and field team will get its first peek into the 2015 season at the Holiday Inn Invitational.

One of the big headlines for Iowa State at the event will be the performances of the sprinters and distance runners. This year’s sprinting squad will be without Ese Okoro, who finished last season as a first-team All-American in the 400 hurdles, along with three of the four runners who qualified for the first round of NCAA’s in the 4×400-meter relay.

The sprinters do, however, return with ISU record holder in the 400-meter dash, senior Kendra White. White earned that record during her first competition last season at the Bill Bergan Invitational. White ran the event in 54.11 seconds and she hopes to break her own record in this year’s opener.

“I’ve been focusing on maintaining my strength and I just started working on speed work, so that might play a big part in me running the [200-meter dash] as well,” White said. “I’ve just been focusing on speed endurance because from last year, me and my coach both noticed that I could do a little better toward the end of my race versus the beginning.”

Junior Kaci Storm and Central Connecticut transfer Alyssa Gonzalez will join White on this year’s squad. ISU assistant coach Glenn Smith plans to use the first few meets of the season as a guiding point for the second half of the season.

“We’ve got a couple new people, or people doing new events,” Smith said. “Alyssa is a new one and then Kaci is just exploring more in the 400-meters. I’m just kind of hoping to get an idea of where they’re at and hoping they’re starting off well. For Kendra, to get a race on her belt, so she feels more comfortable for next weekend.”

Kendra White is the anchor and most experienced runner of the group and will be relied upon to lead the sprinters throughout competition this season.

“Kendra has made a lot of progress this year … I think she’s really matured a lot as an athlete. She was quite good last year, but I think she’s made a lot of gains in technique. I expect her to score well in the 400-meters and make a big impact on the distance medley relay, [which] will be a good event for us this year.”

The distance group is just the opposite, as it is one of the deepest in the nation. The heart of the group features a collection of runners that finished runner-up at the cross country NCAA Championships on Nov. 22.

For redshirt senior Katy Moen, who earned the outdoor 5K and 10K titles last season, she hopes to continue improving upon her performances during both her final indoor and outdoor seasons.

“I’ll [meet those goals] by continuing to live the lifestyle, log the miles, take care of myself and believing in the coaches and the program,” Moen said.

The Holiday Inn Invitational will take place on Jan. 16-17 in Lincoln, Neb.