The ISU track teams battled the weather with varying degrees of success last weekend.

The Cyclone men and women were both represented at the Kansas Relays and the UNI Twilight meet. The women also sent runners to the Mt. SAC Relays in California.

The women’s team received outstanding performances from freshmen Sarah Klein and Rebecca Williams. On Friday, Klein and Williams ran in the preliminaries of the 400-meter hurdles at the Kansas Relays. Klein had the fastest preliminary time, and Williams had the fourth-fastest, as both qualified for Saturday’s final.

On Saturday, Klein validated her top preliminary time by winning the finals in 1:01.33. Williams stuck with Klein for the entire race, finishing second in 1:01.87.

Assistant coach Scott Roberts, who accompanied the Kansas contingent, had plenty to say about the performances of Klein and Williams.

“Nothing really rattles them too much,” he said. “It was cold and windy and rainy, and they still ran close to the times they ran the week before on a sunny day. I’d say they actually ran better this weekend.

“It was just wonderful to see the Cyclones out front. That was the highlight of the meet for us.”

Kelly Brinkman earned a fourth-place finish for the Cyclones at the Kansas Relays in the 1,500-meter run. Her time of 4:41.76 was slightly off of the 4:35.25 pace set by winner Kate Hamera of Missouri-Rolla.

Jessica Huff and Cara Van Eck also ran the 1,500, but in California. In the highly competitive field at the Mt. SAC Relays, Huff placed 10th out of 76 finishers with a time of 4:26.65. Van Eck placed 33rd in 4:33.13.

“[Jessica] probably had the best performance out of the [California] group,” women’s head coach Dick Lee said. “Our goal was to try to get Cara and Jessica both qualified for the regional meet. We got one out of two.”

Steph Suntken, Jenny Mockler and Carey Morris ran in the 800-meter run at the Mt. SAC Relays. Suntken led the trio, placing 15th out of 41 finishers in 2:11.33. Mockler placed 22nd in 2:12.82 and Morris took 27th in 2:13.46.

Lee said that the 800-meter run started about 30 minutes behind schedule, which hurt times across the field. He said the waiting time was hard on the runners because they were warmed up so long before the race started.

The women and men were both planning to focus on their throwing squads at the UNI Twilight meet, but rain prevented most of the throwers from competing. Susan Sherman did compete in the discus, winning with a throw of 147-9.

One of the weekend’s stars for the men’s team was Mitch Anderson. Anderson ran in the 800-meter run at Kansas on Thursday, and then headed for Cedar Falls, where he finished in a tie for first place in the 800 while setting a personal record of 1:52.81. Adam Hinders of Northern Iowa also had a time of 1:52.81.

“I guess maybe we need to have him ride in a car for eight hours before he runs in a race,” men’s head coach Steve Lynn said.

Ryan Pence picked up another victory for Iowa State at UNI in the 1,500-meter run. His time of 4:01.36 edged Northern Iowa’s Tad Stolley, who finished in 4:01.62. The next three places were taken by Cyclones Evans Menjo, Corey Ylinen and Anderson, with times of 4:07.76, 4:08.68 and 4:11.37 respectively.

Pole vaulter Ryan Wilson reached new heights at the Kansas Relays. Wilson cleared a career-best 16-4 3/4 and placed fourth.

Lynn said he had been expecting a strong performance from Wilson sooner or later.

“He’s been ready to do that for a period of time, so it was rewarding to see,” Lynn said. “He came very close to making 16-9.”

Also in action at Kansas was Daniel Kaczmarczyk.

In the long jump, Kaczmarczyk’s leap of 23-10 1/4 earned him third place.

Kaczmarczyk was also a member of the 4-by-100-meter relay team, which placed ninth in 40.92. Other relay members were James Lopes, Jared Graham and Jerod Torrey.

Iowa State was represented in the 4-by-400-meter relay, as well. The team of Graham, Torrey, Justin Sherman and Ryan Boyington placed eighth in 3:11.58, just off of the regional qualifying time of 3:11.50.

This weekend, the teams will be at one of the major meets of the outdoor season, the Drake Relays.