Members of the Iowa State Track and Field teams ran in different directions over the Easter weekend.

Athletes from both the men’s and women’s squads were scattered nationwide, competing at the Jim Duncan Invitational in Des Moines, the Tom Botts Invitation in Columbia, Mo., and the Sun Angel Classic in Tempe, Ariz.

In Arizona, two-time All-American Trina Radske broke her old school record in the long jump with a leap of 21-1 1/4 feet to finish second in the event.

Her jump coach, Ron McEachran, said he was proud of the way Radske handled the competitive situation against Shana Williams, who holds the third-best jump of all-time by a woman and was No. 2 in the 1996 U.S. Olympic Trials.

Radske’s old record of 20-9 was set in 1996 at the Drake Relays. Last year, she red-shirted the outdoor season and, this year, has been battling tendinitis in her hamstring.

“She did some things well,” McEachran said. “She’s starting to really show her experience.”

McEachran said Radske is currently ranked second in the nation and No. 22 in the world because of her outdoor performance. But it’s still early, he said.

Cyclone Barbara Szlendakova leaped into sixth within the event.

Other highlights from the Sun Angel meet include Erin Bresnan’s 2:09.37 in the 800, which was good enough for sixth place. Joanne Roepke also ran the half-mile, finishing ninth.

Radske, Szlendakova, Victoria Gunnarsson and Katarina Svensson combined for a sixth place showing and fell 3/100 of a second short of an ISU record.

Sprint Coach Scott Roberts said he is happy to see the effort these four put forth, especially considering that the women had never previously worked together.

“That’s an event we’re pretty excited about,” he said. “They did an excellent job and will continue to improve on that.”

Hurdles are an event that is coming along for the sprint team, which is under Roberts’ direction. He said Svensson is likely to be sitting in the top five of the conference, and the goal is to get her to qualify provisionally for nationals.

“She could do that at any moment,” he said.

He said other young runners are also “coming along” in the hurdles.

Cyclone high-jumpers faired well, with Leah Elbert and Kelly Cizek clearing 5-7, tying for fourth. ISU men’s Joey Brunkhorst continued to reach high heights and achieve high finishes by matching his career best of 6-10 3/4 to take first place.

At the Jim Duncan, the women’s 1500-meter squad showed its depth by capturing the top three places and the fifth. Cyclone Amber Garrett, with teammates Alienor Gilchrist and Laurie Meythaler at her heels, crossed the line first with a time of 4:37.88. Gilchrist and Meythaler took second and third respectively. ISU’s Stacey Armstrong chased in the fourth place runner, Drake’s Summer Johnson, to finish fifth.

Gilchrist said the Saturday performance itself speaks for the squad.

“The 1500-meter group is very solid this year,” she said. “There’s always power in numbers — being able to run and compete with your teammates is extremely helpful. The whole team benefits.”

Cyclone Gayle Nugent clocked 10:38.86 in the 3,000-meter competition which earned a second place.

In the shorter distances, Marcy Krumm topped the 400-field with a time of 57.10. She also finished fourth in the 200 in 26.29.

In Columbia, the women’s field team represented ISU in all four events: the hammer throw, the javelin, the shot put and the discus.

All-American Kris Curnyn came off the weekend with two titles and a runner up finish.

Curnyn was queen of the discus and hammer throw with marks of 166-4 and 180-10. The distance she tossed the hammer was a personal best. In the shot, Curnyn heaved for another personal best of 48-7 1/2 to finish second to her teammate and Big 12 Indoor Champion Lisa Griebel.

Griebel won the shot with a mark of 49-3 1/2. In her first-ever hammer throw, the freshman garnered a third place after chucking it to 165-6-mark.

Freshman Sarah Wellings threw for second place in the javelin with a distance of 137-11.

On the men’s side, Cyclone Adrian Dunbar won the 110-meter hurdles in 14.28 with Chris Wycoff right beside him. The time of 14.28 eclipsed the the meet record which stood at 14.61. Wycoff registered the same time but was awarded second. In third position was Andy Long.

In the 400 hurdles, Dan Cooper and Nic Weers dominated the field for first and second, recording times of 54.33 and 54.92 respectively. Kyle Bolejack finished fifth. Coach Steve Lynn said that those were best times ever.

Distance runners Philemon Too and Tate Steines waded and ran the steeplechase, completing the land/water event to earn third and fifth places. Cyclones Jacob Overman, Troy Weiland and Matt Williams placed sixth, seventh and ninth in the 1500-meter race.

In the 100-meter dash, All-American Quinn Harris came back from an indoor season injury to win the 100-meter dash in 10.55.

Missing from the men’s lineup were All-Americans David Lichoro, Saul Lempirikany, Randy Thompson, Jason Woods and Jamie Beyer.

Lichoro and Lempirikany, along with Kevin Farrow, will return to the lineup.

Lynn said he hopes the leggers will be ready to give competitors a run for it at the upcoming Drake Relays.

However, Thompson, Woods and Beyer may not return to the outdoor loop. Lynn said it looks like these three Cyclones may sport the red shirt instead of singlet because of injuries.

Obviously, the absence of these three All-Americans will affect the team’s overall performance but will allow for a better future for the team.

“It hurts us as far as what we can do as a team,” Lynn said. “We feel like next year we have a chance to be really, really strong. We like the idea of having Jason and Randy back for next year and Jamie back for a whole year after that,” he said.

The two squads travel to Arkansas this weekend and will return to Midwestern competition on the notable blue track for the Drake Relays on April 24-25.