Juniors Semehar Tesfaye and Kianna Elahi helped prove that the Cyclones are strong in the relay events once again on Friday.

After winning the women’s distance medley relay last year, Iowa State had a strong second place finish in the same event.

Tesfaye and Elahi, along with sophomore Dani Stack and junior Lucy Kennedy crossed the finish line in 11:24.22. The Cyclones finished behind only Utah, which had a winning time of 11:17.24. Iowa State’s winning time in the 2010 Relays was 11:08.64. Stack and her teammates were happy with their finish.

“It’s always disappointing to lose, but everyone gave it everything they had,” Stack said following the race.

The second place finish was bolstered by the fact that only Elahi is used to that type of distance. Stack, Tesfaye and Kennedy don’t normally run anything less than 5,000-meter events.

This forces the runners to switch up their pace. For Tesfaye, it was about reflecting on past years.

“The way to prepare for it was just remember what I did last year,” Tesfaye said. “I came here last year and ran the (4×100) mile medley relay. I was just trying to imitate that.”

Elahi, who wasn’t available for comment following the race due to exhaustion, turned the tide for Iowa State during the second leg.

In third place for the entire first leg, Elahi turned on the burners and passed Minnesota’s Katie Hill. Tesfaye then kept the pace during the third leg before handing the baton off to Kennedy for the anchor leg.

Utah’s Alyssa Abbott and Kennedy left the pack behind to finish out the anchor leg.

“She (Elahi) really went after it,” Stack said. “I know coach told me before hand, ‘You need to get into position so Kianna can do what she does,’ so I just tried to get in good position. I think it helped her catch or pass somebody because she ran phenomenally.”

This second place finish came just one day after Stack, Tesfaye, and Kennedy along with Betsy Saina took third place in the 4×1600-meter relay.

With the Big 12 Outdoor Championships the next big event on the radar, every strong finish serves as a confidence booster.

“Especially at this stage of the season, when we’re coming into big races, the last mile of the 5k or the 10k is really important,” Kennedy said. “That’s where it all happens, so that’s where these speed races should help.”