Wind and rain played large factors for the ISU men’s and women’s track teams this weekend.

The men’s team competed at the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational and Mt. SAC Relays in California amid pouring rain and 50-degree temperatures, while the women battled the wind at the Tom Botts Invitational at the University of Missouri.

On the men’s side, coach Steve Lynn felt the irony of the elements.

“We went all the way to sunny California to get drenched in cold weather,” Lynn said. “One of the reasons we came out here was to try to have really fast performances, because at this meet you are almost guaranteed good weather. It didn’t work out that way.”

Despite the weather, Lynn said his team competed hard.

“They handled it OK – there were some things you couldn’t do. There were a couple that we pulled out that we tried to protect because of injury,” Lynn said. “If the conditions are bad you still have to go compete, and the guys were willing to do a good job of that.”

Among the good performers was David Rotich, who won the 800-meter run at Pomona with a time of 1:48.07.

“David won that in a downpour – that was really impressive,” Lynn said. “He beat a really good field and if the weather had been good I think he could have run a 1:46. He would have like to have broken the school record in that.”

Rotich also placed third in the mile at Mt. SAC.

Dan Taylor finished second in the 5000-meter run at Pomona, running a time of 14:17.34, good enough to qualify for the NCAA Regionals next month.

“Dan Taylor had a personal record in the 5000 despite the conditions,” Lynn said.

Other runners who did well were Kellen Burl, who ran a 14.61 in the 110-meter hurdles at Pomona in good weather to take third, and took fourth with a time of 15.11 in the same race at Mt. SAC, in rainy weather. Elijah Braimah also placed fourth in the 400-meter dash at Pomona, with a time of 47.85.

The women battled the winds in Missouri, although as coach Dick Lee pointed out, the sprinting races were actually helped by strong winds.

“It was fairly windy and warm so some of the races around the track – like the 800 and the 1500 – weren’t as fast as they are in calmer conditions. That definitely did affect the overall times in a lot of those lap races,” Lee said. “It helped the short sprint races because there was a little bit of an aiding wind.”

Highlights for the weekend included Erica Lynn’s performances, winning both the high jump and long jump with distances of 1.70 meters and 5.84 meters, respectively. She also came in fourth in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.08.

“She had a very good weekend, and her next competition won’t be until the Drake Relays heptathlon,” Lee said. “If she’s able to keep these good performances at Drake, that’d be really exciting.”

Ada Anderson lost a close 800-meter run to two-time Big 12 Conference champion Ashley Patten of Missouri. Anderson ran second with a time of 2:09.22. Teammate Katie Paulson also finished 10th in the race.

“Ada [Anderson] got second in a very good 800 field,” Lee said. “It was a battle down to the last 30 meters, they were shoulder to shoulder down most of the home straight.”

Competing unattached for the Cyclones was Rebecca Williams, who took first in the 100-meter hurdles, with a time of 13.34.

Lee said the team is improving each time out on the track, and feels good about its chances heading into the Drake Relays in two weeks.

“We looked better than we did a week ago,” Lee said. “Overall we’re looking better every week and we want to continue on that the next couple of weeks.”

This weekend the Cyclone women will go to the Michael Johnson Classic in Waco, Texas, and the men will head to the Iowa Invitational in Iowa City.