A trip to the NCAA Championships in Austin, Texas did not go as Iowa State would have liked.

None of the five ISU track and field competitors — Tony Douglas in the long jump, Jamal Salahuddin in the discus, Jessica Huff in the 1,500-meter run, Rebecca Williams in the 100-meter hurdles and Agata Kosuda in the triple jump — advanced past the preliminaries.

The NCAA Championships got off to a delayed start after downpours of rain, thunder and lightning. Events for Williams, Salahuddin and Douglas were pushed back due to the weather.

Douglas said the weather didn’t affect his performance but was still a nuisance.

“It wasn’t the best, but you can’t do anything about the weather,” Douglas said. “It sucks because we were ready to go.”

On Thursday, Douglas earned 19th place with a jump of 24-1, Rebecca Williams received 26th with a time of 13.60, and Jessica Huff received a 20th-place finish with a time of 4:26.86.

On Friday, Salahuddin won his flight, but his toss of 55.63 was only good enough for 13th place. Kosuda finished the day for Iowa State in 25th place with a jump of 40-11.

Women’s track and field head coach Dick Lee said that nationals always have the finest competition.

“What happens at nationals is if you are very good but not one of the nation’s best, you’re looking to have a personal best to move on,” Lee said. “Every year I think that [nationals] get more competitive; it raises the bar to move onto finals.”

A tough field

Lee was very impressed with the field in the 100 hurdles — Williams’ event.

“The hurdles were the best it has ever been at the NCAAs. There was never a better hurdle field at these championships,” Lee said. “There was a young lady who ran 12.99 in the prelims and didn’t make it into the finals; that has never happened before.”

Lee was happy with Williams’ performance in the very tough event.

“We were happy to see Rebecca get through the prelim race and be happy after it. She has been battling a hamstring injury since just after the Drake Relays,” Lee said. “She got qualified for nationals, and we were just hoping that she would be OK to race. But with the limited training she has done the last few weeks, we knew it was going to be difficult for her to have a chance to qualify.”

Williams said she won’t be surprised to watch some of the competitors in her event on television this summer.

“There were good athletes and some very fast times,” Williams said. “It was fun seeing a lot of future Olympians run and probably some that will be running in the Olympics this August.”

She said that she wasn’t physically strong enough since she hasn’t practiced in three weeks.

“In the middle of the race [the hamstring] pulled a little bit,” Williams said. “I kind of backed off because I didn’t want to re-strain it. After the race it was sore, but I think that it’s going to be OK.”

The sophomore said she’s happy she gave the national meet a try.

“Now I know what time to run to get to finals next year and how to be an All-American,” Williams said. “Now I know how hard I have to work this summer and offseason to get my time down and be one of those top runners.”

First time at nationals

Men’s head coach Steve Lynn said Salahuddin was just one place away from becoming an All-American. Lynn said this national meet was a good experience for Salahuddin and Douglas.

“This is the first time Jamal and Tony have made it to nationals,” Lynn said. “This was a good experience, and I think that it will help them out next time.”

Salahuddin said the meet had a lot of good throwers.

“I learned a lot and saw what pressure of the nationals can do [to] an athlete,” Salahuddin said. “These nationals are the pinnacle of your career. The national meet shows where you rank above the best in the country.”

Just missing becoming an All-American by one place makes Salahuddin ready for next year.

“I want to be All-American so bad. Next year I am going for it all; to try and win this thing,” Salahuddin said. “For next year I am going to keep working out, train and try and lose some weight.”

Lynn said Douglas also had a good season, but just didn’t quite put it together.

“Tony had trouble with his approach. His steps were off and not in good position,” Lynn said. “There were two guys that he beat in the regular season that made finals. So he knows he can do it. Same thing with Jamal, but you have to do it here, though.”

Douglas said he has a good chance to make the national finals in the future.

“If I keep my head up, I know I can compete with the top-level guys,” Douglas said. “I’m very close, so hopefully next year I can be there.”

Douglas said he was frustrated after his last jump.

“I was kind of mad,” Douglas said.

“I didn’t even get a good jump out of it because my marks were so off.”

Learning experience

Lee said Kosuda’s triple jump event was very competitive and that she had to jump a career best to make the finals.

“She had a good jump on her final jump but fouled by an inch,” Lee said. “It was too bad because her last jump was much better than her first two jumps.”

Lee said Huff had to run a 4:20 to get to finals. He also said she had a good race but couldn’t quite run that fast.

“Since it was hot and humid, it was not the best running conditions for her,” Lee said. “The day that we got rained out would have been great for her, because she is a great bad-weather runner.”

Huff, a senior, ran in her last collegiate track meet. She said she learned more than a few things while at Iowa State.

“I met a lot of good people, like my fianc‚ and a lot of others,” Huff said. “The lesson that I learned is to try and maintain myself. I know when my body is ready for a break, needs rest and what it needs at the right time; to listen to my body.”