The men’s track team will travel to Des Moines, Iowa, this weekend for the Drake Relays. The meet will be highly contested, featuring seven teams ranked in the top 25.

According to the power rankings, Nebraska is ranked sixth, Indiana is eighth, Illinois is 10th, Oregon is 11th, Wisconsin is 13th, Mississippi State is 14th and Georgia is 19th.

Wisconsin is the defending Big Ten indoor champs, and Oregon boasts one of the most prestigious track programs in the country.

Head coach Wayne Angel hopes the stiff competition will help his athletes perform to their potential.

“I think the level of competition will just be off the charts,” Angel said. “We want to raise the level of intensity and hopefully the level of competition will help that happen.

“Basically, right now it’s a press for the Big Ten Championship. I want to evaluate the depth I have and determine my final Big Ten roster.”

Illinois holds the Division-I record for most wins overall in the Drake Relays with 128 relay titles. The Illini hope to add to that total this weekend.

“This meet is a showcase meet for Illinois, and we’re really a fixture at it,” Angel said. “We’re really excited about going and seeing what we can do.”

The Fighting Illini hope to accomplish several goals that Angel and the rest of the coaching staff set.

“We’re going to go there (Des Moines) with the goal of trying to win as many titles as we can,” Angel said. “We’re going to try and continue to qualify more kids for regionals and continue the upward movement of our elite athletes on the descending order list to get them as high as they can.”

Athletes have two ways of qualifying for the national championship meet on June 9. Runners must either be ranked in the top five in their particular regions or they must finish in the top eight at their regional championship.

Last weekend at the Central Collegiate Championship at home, Illinois rested some athletes in hopes they would perform better at the Drake Relays this weekend.

“We weren’t worried about winning that meet,” Angel said. “It (sitting athletes out) is a way of resting them because they’re going to have a lot of work to do at the Drake Relays.”