Former ISU cross country and track and field coach Bill Bergan steered both teams toward success in distance running over his 20 years as a coach, which made it no coincidence that 39 of the men’s 62 team points came from the men’s distance runners in the Bill Bergan Invitational. The team’s 62-point final score gave the Cyclone men a tie for third place with Big 12 North opponent Kansas State.

“On both the men’s and the women’s side, Corey [Ihmels] is building a really good distance program, which has always been the core of the program,” Bergan said. “I think that should be his main focus and build around them and hopefully get some conference championships.”

Of those 39 points, 20 came via the second- through fifth-place finishes of senior Guor Marial, sophomore Yonas Mebrahtu, junior Hillary Bor and senior Kiel Uhl in the men’s 3,000-meter run. Marial and Mebrahtu both set personal records in the race, but neither were able to catch Minnesota’s Chris Rombough as he raced out to a NCAA provisional qualifying time of 8:04.71.

“I had nothing to go on at the end of the race,” Marial said. “Me and [Yonas] were hoping to work together with the Minnesota guys, but unfortunately it was just too late and we couldn’t touch him.”

A trio of Cyclones in the mile run scored 15 points, led by senior Brandon Rooney, who won the race in 4:05.63. Senior Jory Zunich took fourth in 4:09.72 and senior Dan Fadgen ran sixth with a time of 4:12.47.

Sophomore sprinter Ian Warner won the 60-meter dash in 6.72 seconds after finishing second in last week’s ISU Open. Warner bettered his previous personal record of 6.76 seconds and inched his way closer to the NCAA provisional qualifying time of 6.71 seconds.

“It’s exciting because I ran the best time I’ve ever run, but at the same time it’s real disappointing to be that close,” Warner said. “[Being .01 seconds off is] the closest you can get, but I’m excited because we still have four weeks until [the Big 12 Indoor Championships], so I know I have a lot of time to improve and get the provisional time.”

Sophomore Amara Sama and freshman Pat Lewis took fifth and sixth in the 60-meter dash with times of 6.96 and 6.99 respectively. Sama also ran a personal record 22.10 seconds in the 200-meter dash, good enough for fourth place.

“[Sama is] learning a lot of things,” said sprints and hurdles coach Nate Wiens. “The guy is a freaky athlete, so now it’s just managing what his capabilities actually are, then continuing to push him to the best of his ability.”

Ihmels was able to catch up with his former coach, Bergan, throughout the meet Saturday.

“He’s just a tremendous man and he did a lot for Iowa State names, so it’s nice to be able to recognize him as this will hopefully be the first of many events [in honor of Bergan],” Ihmels said.

The Cyclones will continue their stretch of home meets next weekend with another new event, the Cyclone Open.