While six Cyclone track and field team members went to the Texas Relays in Austin, the rest of the team stayed in Iowa to compete at the Messersmith Invitational at the University of Northern Iowa on Saturday.

Erica Lynn hit the provisional qualifying mark for making the NCAA Championships in the heptathlon, finishing in 12th place with 5,055 points, and Neil Hines hit the mark with a sixth-place finish with 7,052. Nicole Teitsworth qualified for NCAA Regionals in Austin by winning the javelin throw with a throw of 43.47 meters.

Jumps and Vaults Coach Ron McEachran, who coached the team in Texas, said Lynn had a great performance, but can make one improvement.

z”I thought Erica [Lynn] did a really good job,” McEachran said. “She was very solid in five of the six events. She needs to get better in the 800.”

Although Hines hit the provisional mark, McEachran said he feels he will get even better.

“He did not do as well in the events he tends to be good at, especially the high jump and pole vault. He did not do as well as we were hoping he would have,” McEachran said. “He made provisional qualifying, and possibly left 300 points on the track. That’s really encouraging that he can get better.”

Also competing in Texas, Sara Boisen finished 22nd in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 101.43. Leigh Wagner took 12th in her section of the high jump, with a jump of 1.70 meters. Tony Douglas was 13th in the long jump with a jump of 6.7 meters, only completing two jumps before tweaking his hamstring. Chase Madison was eighth in the discus with a throw of 54.62 meters.

At Northern Iowa, Teitsworth qualified for regionals for the first time in her career.

“She didn’t start until a few years ago, so a quick learner with that – she’s worked very hard at it,” said coach Dick Lee. “It’s good to see someone get the rewards for all that hard work. She’s really excited and I hope to see her continue improving throughout the entire season.”

Other highlights for the Cyclone women included Erin Penticoff finishing sixth in the 800-meter run, and Lauren Lewis won the 1500-meter run, competing unattached.

Overall, Lee said he felt the team gained good experience for going into the future, starting with next week’s meets.

“This is the meet that gives some of the younger athletes confidence,” Lee said. “Just for some of the kids, gaining confidence here is going to help them next week when they get a chance to see even better competition than what we saw this week.”

For the men at Northern Iowa, David Rotich led the way, winning both the 800-meter run and 1500-meter run.

“This is his first race since the NCAAs. He only ran one 800 indoors, so this was good to do that. It was good to double and win both the 800 and 1500 here,” said coach Steve Lynn.

Other top finishes included Dan Taylor’s second place in the same 1500-meter race, and Kellen Burl finishing second in the 110-meter hurdles, with Eric Parker finishing fifth in that race.

Lynn said while she knows this was a low-key meet, with many smaller colleges competing, it will help the team improve in the future.

“We improved ourselves today, and that’s what you’re trying to do,” she said. “None of the times here were awesome or anything like that, but there were some kids that did some of the things we’ve been working on, and we’ll see from this point on. We’re probably better in this meet than we were a year ago in this meet.”

Next up for the Cyclones is another split-team weekend, with the team competing at Claremont and Walnut, Calif., Columbia, Mo. and Des Moines from Thursday to Sunday.