The Kansas track and field team heads north and south this weekend as it competes in the John McDonnell-Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark., and the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa.

Pole vaulters Ekaterina Sultanova and Amy Linnen, distance runner Benson Chesang and sprinter/hurdlers Julius Jiles and Aaron Thompson will represent the squad in the home of the No. 1 Arkansas Razorbacks. The rest of the team will compete at Iowa State.

Linnen said she expected to have her best performance of the year.

“I feel pretty healthy, and my technique’s coming together,” she said. “I’m feeling very confident.”

Linnen set the national record for pole vault during a stint at the University of Arizona.

After injuring her Achilles tendon and suffering feet problems, she said she needed to get back on a national level while at Kansas.

“This is my last year of eligibility, and I’m in a good place,” Linnen said. “This will show everyone that I’m on top and nationally ranked.”

And as for this weekend’s televised meet?

“We don’t think about that as we jump,” Linnen said. “It will get us a lot of exposure, though.”

Linnen and Sultanova stand at second and third in the Big 12 Conference in pole vaulting.

Chesang will look for another victory in the 3,000-meter race after his success last week in Lincoln, Neb. In his first race of the indoor season, the junior won and finished in the fourth-fastest time in school history.

Thompson and Jiles continue to battle for rankings within the Big 12 in the 60-meter hurdles. Jiles, a freshman, ranks fourth in the conference, and Thompson, a junior, ranks seventh.

“This meet is important because this is where nationals will be held this year,” vertical jumps coach Tom Hays said. “We are working to take another step towards nationals.”

Hays, a KU graduate and first-year coach, will coach the squad in a nationally televised meet.

“Any time it’s televised, there’s going to be better competition from the better athletes,” Hays said. “Good things will happen if you’re prepared.”

Coach Stanley Redwine has a higher purpose for splitting the team as he leads the second squad into Ames for the Iowa State Classic.

“With the split meets this weekend we will give our athletes the best opportunity to compete for their best times,” Redwine said.