Fans attending the Cyclone NCAA qualifying meet this weekend in Ames got a chance to see David Rotich complete a rare feat – a mile in less than four minutes.

With the official time of 3:59.50, Rotich, who is from Eldoret, Kenya, not only won the race, but most likely earned the right for his parents to watch him run for the first time in his collegiate career next weekend at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. The NCAA automatic qualifying time is 3:59.00, but Rotich’s time is expected earn him a spot.

“It’s a dream come true – I’m just looking forward to it,” Rotich said. “My mom and my dad will have a chance to see me run, because they’ve never seen me run. They’ll be coming to Iowa [on Wednesday], so they get a chance to come watch me at nationals.”

Rotich said he wasn’t sure if he would ever get a chance to run less than four minutes, and to complete it was almost unreal.

“It felt great. It’s one of those things, it’s like ‘Will I ever do it or not?'” Rotich said.

“Towards the end of the race, I was like ‘You know what, I can’t believe this is happening!'”

On a lower note for the Cyclone men, Tony Douglas was unable to hit an automatic qualifying mark of 7.85 meters in the long jump. Douglas tweaked his hamstring while completing his second judged jump.

“He moved up on the list, but he’s not going to get to the NCAA meet,” said men’s coach Steve Lynn. “We’re not going to take any chances getting him hurt, because we feel like he can be an All-American outdoors.”

Other competitors for the men’s team were looking to have a good final indoor meet in preparation for the outdoor season, and many earned personal records. Among them were Elijah Braimah in the 400-meter run, Kellen Burl in the 60-meter hurdles, and Dan Taylor and Jory Zunich in the mile.

“Just about everybody that competed today had their season best, and that’s what you want to do,” Lynn said. “We’re anxious to see how it goes here as we go to the outdoor season.”

For the women, Rebecca Williams had a chance to earn a spot in the NCAA Indoor Championships, but was unable to hit the automatic time of 8.43 in the 60-meter hurdles.

“She ran a good, solid day today, but didn’t have a great day,” said women’s coach Dick Lee. “She needed to have a great day in hurdles to have a chance to qualify.”

Ada Anderson, who already qualified for the indoor championships, placed fourth in the 800-meter run, a race in which Anderson used to prepare for next weekend.

“Just competing like this and staying fresh is always helpful,” Anderson said. “Taking a week off might be a little lazy. This keeps me focused and I’m ready to go for next weekend.”

Jummy Alowonle also had a good day in the long jump, finishing third with a jump of 5.87 meters.

Although Alowonle was short of any qualifying mark, Lee said it has been a good senior season indoors for Alowonle.

“She had a good solid year,” Lee said. “It was fun giving her a chance to score at the conference meet last week, and she came back and jumped well today.”

Lee said he felt it was hard for the team to come back after last week’s Big 12 Indoor Championship meet, as they were really only competing for a score rather than placement.

“When you’re running to beat people, sometimes it’s easier to have the kind of performance you want than when you’re trying to achieve a certain performance level,” Lee said.

Next up for the Cyclones is the NCAA Indoor Championships next weekend, in which Rotich and Anderson will compete. After the championships, the teams will begin outdoor competition.