DES MONIES — The sopping wet, sold out 14,504 fans that packed Drake Stadium on Saturday applauded freshman hurdler Kianna Elahi as she sprinted to the finish line. Elahi started the race out of lane two, and as the gun went off volunteer coach Danny Harris, yelled, “Go now, Kianna!”

Elahi went.

As she rounded the second turn into the homestretch, Elahi took the lead and held it until, with a giant smile on her face, she finished with a time of 59.59, provisionally qualifying her for the NCAA Regional meet. Elahi also set her personal record Saturday.

Elahi couldn’t help but smile when talking about the applause that she received when she finished.

“That was so awesome,” she said. “I have never had that much support at a track meet. It was just incredible…it made it feel that much more awesome.”

Elahi also said that her time was good, but that it could have been better. She said that, by the end of the season, she wants to run 58 seconds, but that this weekend was a great start. Elahi took third overall after winning her heat.

Elahi was just one of the many highlights that the women had this weekend in Des Moines.

The action for the women started Friday in the 4×100 meter relay, in which the women finished 10th with a time of 46.47, but it wasn’t fast enough to qualify them for the finals on Saturday.

The lead leg for the 4×100 meter team, junior Jenna Caffrey, also competed Friday in the 100-meter hurdles prelims. Caffrey qualified for the finals by finishing first in her heat and with the fourth fastest time overall.

As the staff set up the hurdles for the finals, it began to rain. Although the weather was much colder than the day before, Caffrey still managed a sixth place finish.

Caffrey said, after her race, that she is not fazed by rain or cold, and that she thrives in it.

The 4×200 meter relay team of Monique Hawkins, Lashawn Wright, Leia Jackson, and Elahi finished eighth Friday after Eastern Illinois just edged out Iowa State for seventh place in a photo finish.

The women’s 4×800 meter relay team, however, had a rough weekend.

Lead leg Erin Penticoff started off well, leading the first lap and a half. Although Penticoff seemed to fall off, her last effort down the homestretch put the Cyclones into second position, behind two time defending champion Minnesota.

After Penticoff handed the baton to freshman Kersten Thorgaard they completely lost their momentum. As Thorgaard was running down the backstretch in a pack of runners, the baton was knocked from her hand and fell onto the apron of the track. The women were not disqualified; however they never got back into the rhythm that Penticoff had started out with. The team finished 13th despite the major setback that they incurred.