ISU head coach Corey Ihmels said that the men’s 3000-meter run was not the smartest race that senior distance runner Rico Loy has ever run but his efforts paid off on Saturday.

The native of Bad Wildbad, Germany, won the men’s 3000-meter in a personal best time of 8:07.69 at the annual Bill Bergan Invitational.

At the beginning of the race, Loy was up at the front of the pack but in the last couple laps, he dropped back several spots and conserved energy to make one final push at the end. Entering the final lap of the race, Loy found himself in fifth place but one by one, passed his competitors on the back stretch and the final one on the fourth turn to get the win.

Loy said that he was even a little surprised with the outcome of the race.

“I did not think that I could or would win that race,” Loy said. “But I just started picking it up, and it just worked out that way for me. Every time I passed another guy, it just felt better and better.”

Ihmels said that it was good to see Loy get a win and boost his confidence more as the season now progresses.

“He showed some fight today,” Ihmels said. “He maybe didn’t run the smartest race of the day, but he showed some fight later on in the race. Anytime you can win a race, it’s a positive thing, and he’s going to use that momentum and move forward and get better as we move along.”

Loy said that winning this race, especially in the way he did, will be a nice confidence boost moving forward and will get him ready for the Big 12 meet.

“Especially for conference, the middle distance guys are really good from Oklahoma State and from Texas,” Loy said. “I think I can score some points though, maybe get into the top eight.”

A handful of Cyclone track and field athletes will be back in action next weekend as the team will travel to New York for the New Balance Invitational on Friday and Saturday.