Betsy Saina breaks school record for indoor track 5,000-meter run, cruises to first place finish

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File photo: Logan Gaedke/Iowa State Daily

Iowa State’s Betsy Saina rounds one of her final laps during the Women’s 5,000-meter run Feb. 12 at Lied Recreation Athletic Center.

Isaac Copley

Betsy Saina broke an ISU record Feb. 9 in the indoor track 5,000-meter run, with a time of 15:21.66 seconds on her way to a first-place finish at the Iowa State Classic.

The previous indoor record record at Iowa State was set by Lisa Koll in 2010 with a time of 15:29.65. Saina also holds the third best time in school history with a mark of 15:36.09.

The school-record finish places Saina at the top of the leader board in the 5,000-meter run.

Saina, the national champion in the 5,000-meter run last year, won the event by finishing nearly four seconds faster than anyone else.

Trailing with only two laps left, Saina was able to move into first place and stretch that lead into an indoor track school record finish.

Saina and the ISU track teams will be back in action Feb. 22-23 competing in the Big 12 Championships in Ames.