Stack, Saina are the highlight of track and field championships

Zach Gourley;

The Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships wrapped up on Sunday for the Cyclone women’s track and field team.

Iowa State’s women’s team finished sixth in the rankings with 60 points, with Texas A&M winning the conference crown by racking up 146 points.

After one day of competition, the Cyclones were in third place behind the duo of Dani Stack and Betsy Saina, who ran a strong 10,000-meter final. Stack and Saina paced the race for the majority of the 10K before Oklahoma’s Jessica Engel made her move at the end, winning the race with a time of 33:42.11.

Stack placed second in the 10,000-meter, clocking a 33:48.63, while Saina finished fourth in a time of 34:12.92. The two combined earned the Cyclones 13 team points in that race alone.

Jordon Andreassen, a junior from North Polk High School, started the heptathlon strong on Friday, finishing third 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.07, a personal best. Andreassen also posted personal bests in the 200-meter dash (25.40) and the shot put (40 feet, 8.75 inches).

Day one ended with Andreassen in third place in the heptathlon after four of the seven events were completed.

On Saturday, Andreassen picked up right where she left off the previous day. That day’s  highligh was a javelin throw of 123-07, good for fourth in the event. Andreassen finished the heptathlon with a total score of 5,233, earning a third-place finish overall and picking up six team points.

Andreasson’s 5,233 points currently rank him third all-time at Iowa State for most points in a multi-event competition.

Through two days, the Cyclone women were in fourth with 27 points.

The meet’s final day was highlighted once again by the duo of Saina and Stack in the 5,000-meter final. Saina and Stack worked together and took control of the race with 2,000-meters remaining. Saina captured the 5,000-meter title with a time of 16:06.05, while Stack finished second, in 16:08.23.

Kianna Elahi picked up six more team points when she finished third in the 400-meter hurdles in a time of 57.44.

In the 1,500-meter final, Lucy Kennedy came in second with a personal-best time of 4:20.98.