ISU weight man Jamal Salahuddin encountered some of the top collegiate throwers in the nation at the Tom Botts Invitational during the weekend.

The encounter proved to be a favorable one for Salahuddin. By throwing the discus 179 feet, 3 inches, he won the event, defeating Missouri stars Russ Bell and Christian Cantwell in their home stadium.

The ISU men also picked up victories in the long jump, 100-meter dash and 4-by-100 meter relay.

The women’s team was led by a 1-2 finish from Sarah Klein and Rebecca Williams in the 400-meter hurdles. Reliable stars Gina Rickert and Susan Sherman claimed the high jump and discus for the Cyclones.

Men’s coach Steve Lynn was impressed by Salahuddin’s performance in the discus.

“I knew he had a chance, but beating [Bell and Cantwell] at home was one of the highlights of the meet,” Lynn said.

Salahuddin came through just in time. His winning throw came on his last chance. With that throw, he outdistanced Bell (169-3) by exactly 10 feet. Cantwell took third with 168-4. All three met the NCAA Regional qualifying standard.

Sprinter James Lopes had a part in two Cyclone victories. He won the 100-meter dash in a time of 10.67 seconds, and also ran a leg on the victorious 4-by-100 meter relay. The relay had a time of 41.32 seconds.

Lopes did not compete last year due to injury, but appears to be fully recovered. His time in the 100 was nearly three-tenths of a second better than his previous best, Lynn said.

“James Lopes is certainly one of the most improved guys on the team right now,” Lynn said.

Daniel Kaczmarczyk, also recovering from an injury, continued his return to top form, winning the long jump and qualifying for the regional meet with a leap of 24-9.

Kaczmarczyk also ran the anchor leg of the 4-by-100 meter relay, and took second to Lopes in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.75 seconds. Other members of the relay were Jared Graham and Jerod Torrey.

Tony Douglas also competed in the long jump for Iowa State, taking fourth with a jump of 22-10. Douglas was within four inches of second-place finisher Charles Burton of Illinois.

In the 1,500-meter run, the ISU men hoped to build on their recent success, but things took a bad turn during the race. Craig Cartier and Kristjan Hunter both came up with leg injuries. While the injuries should not be season-ending, Lynn said neither runner will be able to compete next weekend. Combined with the nagging foot problems of Abraham Rotich, who did not run this weekend, the men’s distance squad could be rather depleted for a few weeks.

Chris Francois turned in the top performance for Iowa State in the 1,500, placing third in 3:50.70. Ryan Hampton of Missouri won in 3:49.56.

For the women, freshmen Klein and Williams provided a youth movement in the 400-meter hurdles. Klein’s winning time of 1:01.24 qualified her for the regional meet. Williams took second in 1:01.60, barely missing the regional qualifying time of 1:01.50.

In the weight events, Susan Sherman claimed a gold, a silver and a bronze. Her top performance for the weekend was a win in the discus. Her throw of 166-1 easily qualified her for the regional meet, and was only three inches short of the meet record held by former Cyclone Kris Curnyn.

“[Susan] had a very good performance in the discus,” women’s coach Dick Lee said. “She’s got the potential to be over 170 feet in good conditions.”

Sherman also took second place in the hammer throw, launching the hammer 158 feet, 9 inches. Holly Scherder of Missouri won with a throw of 174-9. In the shot put, Sherman took third by throwing 45-5. The shot put was won by Janae Strickland of Missouri with a throw of 48-5 1/2.

Rickert jumped 6-0 3/4 to win the high jump by four inches. Rickert has not had the luxury of backing off in practice before meets, Lee said. She is focusing on the national championships in June.

“She’s at the point where jumping six feet is just a normal day for her,” Lee said. “She has been training pretty hard for the last three to four weeks.”

Both teams also sent a few competitors to the Jim Duncan Relays in Des Moines. Karen McCormick picked up a victory there, winning the 3,000-meter run in a time of 10:28.57. Lee was happy with her win, but warned that she will have major challenges ahead.

“She is probably one of our most improved athletes, but unfortunately, she’s in an event where she’s running against some of the top runners in the nation at the conference level,” Lee said.

Next weekend, the Cyclones will once again head in multiple directions. The men and women will both send athletes to the Kansas Relays and the UNI Twilight meet. Lee said some members of his team will also travel to the Mt. Sac Relays in California.