Ese Okoro has come a long way in her years as a Cyclone. Now Okoro is hoping to set a new standard for her senior year, and it started at the Texas Relays this weekend, March 29-30, 2013.

Okoro finished second in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 57.82 seconds. Okoro finished second in the race behind Texas’ Danielle Dowie, who is the reigning outdoor champion in the 400-meter hurdles.

“It was the first chance for most of our team to run outdoors, and they demonstrated that we will be ready to compete as the season progresses,” said ISU coach Corey Ihmels in a news release.

The ISU track and field team was anxious to see some action outdoors after the cold weather and lengthy indoor season, especially after a long week of training during spring break.

“We’ve been here all Spring Break and had a chance to train without worrying about classes, and all the groups got some good work in last week,” Ihmels said.

Okoro, who finished 12th in the nation last year in the 400-meter hurdles and won the 400-meter hurdle at the Arizona State Invite last weekend, is excited to see her senior outdoor season start off with a bang. Adding a Big 12 indoor title in the 600-meter run to her accomplishments, Okoro is vying to become a leader as Iowa State has a stable of young sprinters in its arsenal.

The ISU track and field team completed a successful weekend in which athletes competed at the Texas Relays, Stanford Invitational and the San Francisco State Distance Carnival.

Betsy Saina broke a school record in the 5,000-meter run, and Iowa State throwers Hayli Bozarth, Danielle Frere and Laishema Hampton competed at the Stanford Invitational, placing in the shot put and hammer throw events.

Iowa State will return to Tempe, Ariz., next week competing in the Sun Angel Track Classic on Friday and Saturday, April 5 and 6.