School and personal records were set, distance runners were tripped and athletes were replacing injured teammates at this year’s Big 12 outdoor conference meet.

Rebecca Williams highlighted the drama in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.31, breaking Aurelia Trywianska’s school-record time of 13.32 set in the 2000 Big 12 championships. Trywianska is currently ranked ninth in the world.

“[Breaking the school record] was my goal to do sometime before I graduate,” Williams said. “I’m excited that I was able to run that my sophomore year. [My time] was a big drop. It went down three-tenths of a second since last year.”

Despite currently holding the record, Williams believes she will break her mark again at Iowa State.

“I’ve learned more this year, and I feel I’m more of a seasoned runner,” she said.

“Last year, I came in not really knowing anything; I just went out and ran hurdles. This year, I’ve learned so much about technique, my start has improved, [and] if I can be more consistent, I know my time will improve.”

Sprints and hurdles coach Scott Roberts said Williams’ improvement on her starts is the main reason behind her progress this season.

“We’ve been working very hard on her starts,” Roberts said. “That was the last link needed to get her time down. In the prelims, she set a personal best, 13.45. Then the next day, she had a tremendous start, ran over the first three hurdles and [then] was able to break her time and get the school record.”

Williams took fifth in the event.

Trywianska’s record in the triple jump was also broken by fellow Poland native Agata Kosuda earlier this year at the ISU Classic.

In the 1,500-meter run, Jessica Huff finished fourth with a time of 4:28.83, despite being tripped up about 300 meters into the race.

Women’s head coach Dick Lee said only one woman actually fell to the track.

“The pack of all nine were within five meters of each other,” Lee said.

“[Huff] was in position to run around but got tripped up [by the others], which took a lot of energy out of her. It cost her during the last lap. The girl that went down ended up about 20 meters behind. [She] was one of the favorites to win.”

In the 800-meter run, Ada Anderson placed fourth with a time of 2:08.96.

“My outdoor [personal record] is 2:08.4, so I pretty much ran that this weekend,” Anderson said.

“I felt like I could have run faster; the whole race [felt] slow. I look forward to running faster at regionals.”

Freshman Sara Boisen finished fourth in the 400-meter hurdles, clocking in at 1:01.04.

Roberts and Lynn are very pleased with Boisen’s maturity as an athlete and look forward to her future at Iowa State.

“[She has] impressed me a lot because she’s handled stepping up and competing at the Division I level very well,” Roberts said.

“She’s a hard worker who’s had a very good season,” Lee said. “We’ve got one more meet for her to hopefully qualify for regionals.”

Boisen, Williams and Anderson were also part of the 1,600-meter relay team that placed fifth. Williams started the race, followed by Boisen, Jenny Mockler and Anderson.

Mockler replaced Sheba Clarke in the event because Clarke injured her hamstring in the preliminaries of the 100-meter dash.

“I thought [Jenny did very well],” Anderson said. “She stepped up because she was feeling kind of bummed-out about the 800. She had a lot of energy and was ready to go.”

Senior Susan Sherman finished her Big 12 career on a high note, placing third in the hammer throw, fourth in the discus and sixth in the shot put. Her throw in the hammer was a personal best of 181-3.

Sherman said she’ll take away long-lasting memories from her career as a Cyclone.

“I would have to say my best memory is hanging out with all the guy throwers and watching them make fun of each other,” she said.

The track and field teams will take next weekend off due to finals and then resume competition at the Georgia Tech Invitational on May 14-15.