After running a program-best 11:11.93 in the distance medley relay event two weeks ago in New York, the ISU distance medley team had one goal going into the ISU Classic: go faster.

The distance medley relay team at the ISU Classic consisted of Perez Rotich running the 1,200-meter leg, followed by Kendra White in the 400-meter leg, Ejiro Okoro in the 800-meter leg and freshman Bethanie Brown anchoring the final, one-mile leg.

Rotich ran at the front of the pack with teams from Duke and Minnesota for the first leg. Once she handed it off to White, the Cyclones emerged from the pack and began building up a lead. Okoro took the handoff from White and was able to maintain that lead throughout her 800-meter leg.

The Cyclones had a decent lead going into the anchor leg, which meant All-American Brown had to run most of her one mile leg out in front by herself.

“I was hoping to have a competitive mile where I was chasing people … but instead I was leading the whole way and I think that kind of tired me out,” said Brown, who led almost the entire anchor leg before getting passed down the final stretch.

Duke set a meet and track record 11:06.87 after a blistering final few laps, and Minnesota was just barely able to clip Iowa State at the tape, finishing one hundredth of a second faster than the Cyclones.

The ISU distance medley relay team fell less than a second short of their program-best time that they set a week prior to the ISU Classic, with a time of 11:12.86.

“I was a little disappointed that some of the teams didn’t help us out on the anchor leg there, so [Brown] was kind of hung out to dry,” said ISU assistant coach Andrea Grove-McDonough. “It’s hard for a freshman to carry that anchor leg like she did there.”

The Cyclones’ best time of 11:11.93 currently sits as the ninth best time in the nation, but Grove-McDonough was hoping her team would go even faster.

In order to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships in the distance medley relay, the team needs to have a top-12 time nationally at the end of the season.

While the ISU distance medley team’s time currently would qualify them for the NCAA Indoor Championships, Grove-McDonough doesn’t think that the 11:11.93 time will hold up with so many teams still gunning for top times in the event.

“I think we’ll be 13th to 16th when it’s all said and done, and they only take [the top] 12 so it is what it is,” Grove-McDonough said of where she thinks their best time will end up in the national standings.

For now the Cyclones will sit back and wait and hope that their time is able to hold up in the national rankings, so the distance medley relay team will get a shot at the NCAA Indoor Championships.

While both Grove-McDonough and Brown said they weren’t sure if the time would hold up, Okoro is still optimistic.

“Hopefully nobody beats that time,” Okoro said with a hopeful smile. “Anything is possible.”