Junior Edward Kemboi was stuck squarely in the middle of the pack for the first 500 meters of the 800-meter race. It appeared as if his home debut would be spoiled, up until the bell rang, signaling the final lap of the race.

The final lap was go time for Kemboi.

After the second turn, Kemboi jumped to the outside of the track and burned past the entire field. He ended up winning the race by nearly two full seconds and recorded the top time in the nation so far this season.

Kemboi looked up at the scoreboard to see his time as soon as he crossed the finish line and saw 1:45.96.

He immediately threw his arms up in celebration and was hugged by a number of his competitors before a wave of teammates and coaches came to congratulate him on running the fastest time in the nation this season and the seventh fastest time in the world this year.

“I think I got like almost 20 or 30 hugs,” Kemboi said with a laugh.

One of those hugs came from ISU assistant coach Andrea Grove-McDonough, who coaches the women’s middle and long distance athletes. Even though Kemboi isn’t one of her athletes, she ran up to the finish line and was one of the first to congratulate him.

“It was phenomenal,” Grove-McDonough said. “I don’t have any hand whatsoever in his training, I’m just a fan. I was just excited for the guys and for him and his performance. 

“He’s a great guy. You can’t help but root for him.”

The field featured four competitors who had recorded top-10 times nationally this season coming into the race, including Kemboi. With such a strong field, the 800-meter race was one of the most anticipated events in the meet, and it delivered.

Kemboi broke his own personal record and the program record in the 800-meter run with his performance.

“In my mind, I wanted to run fast,” Kemboi said. “I wanted to run a 1:45 or 1:46, you know, I just wanted to run fast.”

“My coach told me, like you know those guys are good athletes, just go run your race, you know. I didn’t really have any strategy, just run fast.”

The 800-meter run is Kemboi’s marquee event as he is a Big 12 champion and a two-time All-American in the event. 

This was the first time Kemboi had the chance to race on his home track this season. While the rest of the team heads to one meet or hosts a home meet, sometimes Kemboi heads elsewhere so that he can face nationally-ranked, top-level competition.

With such a high level of competition in Ames for the ISU Classic, Kemboi was excited to be running at home for the first time.

“I didn’t want to disappoint everybody — like my teammates, my coaches, the ISU community — at home,” Kemboi said of racing at home for the first time this season. “This [is] my track. I won’t let anybody beat me here.”

While Kemboi set the best national time on the season in the men’s 800-meter run, teammate Ejiro Okoro was equally impressive in the women’s 800-meter run.

Okoro’s race was similar to Kemboi’s, as both athletes ran in the middle of the pack, until making their move on the final lap. Okoro’s event featured a mixture of collegiate and professional athletes, which may be the reason behind her record-setting performance.

Down the stretch, Okoro had to chase two professional athletes, providing a higher level of competition than standard college athletes typically provide.

Although she was unable to pass the two professional athletes, Okoro was the first colligate athlete to cross the finish line, breaking her own personal record by a full second and a half with a time of 2:03.91.

The time broke the school record in the event, and is also the third-fastest time in the nation so far this season.

“I was really pleased,” Okoro said of her race. “Coach said I’m stronger and I am a lot fitter than I was last year, and I can see the benefits in my training now, so I was very grateful that I stuck in there against [the professional athletes].”

Like Kemboi, the 800-meter run is also Okoro’s marquee event, as she is a four-time All-Big 12 performer and an All-American in the event last season.

“She was running down some of the best runners in the entire country, you know professional runners, and right before she stepped to the line I told her there isn’t anyone in this field you can’t run with,” Grove-McDonough said.

“I wasn’t surprised at all.”

Both Kemboi and Okoro are the favorites to win the Big 12 title in the 800-meter event, which Iowa State will host in two weeks. Both athletes will more than likely have a shot at an NCAA Indoor title in the event as well, which will be in Albuquerque, N.M., about a month from now.