On Saturday, Iowa State’s Rocky Moore bolstered his chances of being invited to the NCAA Championships track meet.

Moore was one of several Cyclones in action at the NCAA Qualifier meet held at the Lied Recreation Center.

The meet was the last chance for athletes to qualify for the national meet.

Moore led the Iowa State men, taking fifth place in the shot put with a throw of 58-9 1/2. Moore has provisionally qualified for the national meet, meaning he will be considered but is not guaranteed a spot. Qualifiers will be announced today.

Men’s coach Steve Lynn was pleased with the way Moore rebounded from a poor showing at the Big 12 Championships.

“He really came back and had a good series [of throws],” Lynn said.

Another strong performance for the men came from Abraham Rotich in the 800 meter run. He turned in a season-best time of 1:50.62, placing 13th in a highly competitive field that included one automatic and nine provisional NCAA qualifiers.

Rotich missed provisionally qualifying by less than a half-second, but Lynn said things could be different in the outdoor season.

“I expect to see him really drop down and challenge to go to the NCAAs in the outdoor season,” Lynn said.

Rotich has had trouble fulfilling his potential due to various injuries.

“We’ve learned that he can’t train as hard as he’d like to,” Lynn said.

Long jumper Tony Douglas, also recovering from injury, placed seventh with a jump of 23-10 3/4.

It was the first time that he has been able to compete on consecutive weekends this season.

Other season bests came from Chris Francois in the mile run and the 4×400 meter relay. Francois placed seventh in a time of 4:09.79.

The event was won by Charlie Gruber, who ran unattached, in a time of 4:01.81.

The 4×400 relay, comprised of Andy Hadden, Jared Graham, Ryan Boyington and Jerod Torrey, took tenth place in a time of 3:11.96. Only six seconds separated the top 12 places.

Lynn said the relay team met their goal of running faster than 3:12.

Their time was the fastest indoor 4×400 time by an Iowa State team in four years, he said.

The women’s team had a narrow miss on its best chance to qualify for the national championships.

Miler Jessica Huff turned in a time of 4:49.47, around one second off of the provisional mark.

“It was a good race on her part, but she hoped to run faster,” women’s coach Dick Lee said.

Lee said that Huff was aiming for an automatic qualifying time of 4:42. She was able to maintain that pace for the first half of the race, he said.

Susan Sherman, who had already posted a provisionally qualifying distance in the weight throw, competed, but her throw of 58-10 3/4 was well short of the 63 feet she threw last week.

Lee was not disappointed, though. He said that her goal on Saturday was simply to get more experience in competition. He feels good about her chances of being invited to the national meet.

“She should be in unless something crazy went on at one of the other last-chance meets,” Lee said.

Gina Curtis-Rickert, who has already automatically qualified for nationals in the high jump, did not compete.

In the 800 meter run, Stephanie Suntken ran a time of 2:10.77, a personal best, placing 11th.

Lee was also pleased with the performances of Sarah Klein and Carey Morris, who took 17th and 18th in 2:14.31 and 2:15.20.

Except for the athletes who will compete in the national meet, the teams are now preparing for the outdoor season. Their first major outdoor meet, the Clemson Invitational, is four weeks away.

For many of the athletes, the focus had already shifted even before this weekend.

“Once conference is over, we are preparing for outdoor,” Lee said.