Climactic weekend lies ahead at Big 12 Championships
Kianna Elahi fights North Dakota State’s Brittany Schanandore for the finish of the 4×400-meter relay at the Bill Bergan Invitational meet Saturday at Lied Recreation Athletic Center. Elahi’s relay team finished with a time of 3:48.71.
February 22, 2011
The ISU women’s track and field team will be on its way to the Denvaney Sports Center in Lincoln, Neb., this weekend to compete in the Big 12 Championships.
The Cyclones will be put to test with six teams in ranked in the top 25.
After having last weekend off, the team has had a chance to regroup and focus on preparing for this important meet coming up.
“We’ve made great progress the last couple of weeks,” said coach Corey Ihmels. “Throughout the team, each group has done really well with improving overall.”
ISU sprinter Kianna Elahi broke the school record at the last meet in the 600-yard run with a time of 1:19.61. Also, junior Betsy Saina has stepped up and won the 5,000-meter run in 15:50.7 at the ISU Classic two weeks ago.
“Betsy is running just as well as anybody else in the country,” Ihmels said. “I think she’s got a really good chance to be a conference champion.”
Leading the ISU women’s distant runners, Saina is currently ranked fourth nationally for the 5,000-meter. Elahi, leading the women’s sprinters, is currently ranked first in the Big 12.
Elahi has made big contributions to the team and has a definite possibility of earning conference champion this weekend.
“I pray a lot before each race and I don’t think I could do as well as I have been if God wasn’t with me,” Elahi said.
ISU track and field fans can also expect to see results on the field from Laishema Hampton and Hannah Willms. The two have shown consistent performances for the team throughout the season.
Willms, freshman high jumper, will be going into the meet this weekend tied for first in the conference and ranked eighth nationally.
Hampton will be going into the Big 12 Championships ranked second in the women’s weight throw. She set a new school record at the ISU Classic by nearly 1.5 feet, while placing second.
The women’s team continues to break records and beat personal bests raising the bar for the competition ahead.
“We are building as a program and each year is getting better and better for Iowa State track,” said assistant coach Nate Wiens. “We’re just gonna go out there and put in our best effort.”
