They say close doesn’t count in horseshoes, hand grenades or slow dancing. Nor does it count in a track and field competition.

The Big 12 Conference was a meet of fast times, strong showings and of course, a few disappointments.

And a disappointment for some is an advantage for others. Because the Baylor women dropped the baton in the 4×400 relay, a few teams snuck into the top five. One of them was Iowa State.

The Texas Longhorns took the women’s title, followed by Nebraska and Kansas State for the medals, with the Cyclones anchoring a fourth place.

Coach Dick Lee said, “[Texas] is favored to see the national title indoors, and I think we saw why on Saturday.”

Texas dominated the 55-meter dash by taking the top four seats, the top three in the 200, a golden 55-meter hurdle performance and a second place in the 4×400 relay. In addition, the Longhorns had a star performance in the high jump with Erin Aldrich’s 6-2 flop, which Lee described as an “average day for her.”

Lee also said that if Baylor hadn’t dropped baton in the 4×400, ISU wouldn’t have been able to finish fourth.

“I was very pleased with our total team effort,” he said. “Every point a person scored was important for us in our fourth-place team finish.”

And even though the timing wasn’t just right for every event, he said, “We felt we had more good things happen. We’re stressing all the positives.”

Two Cyclone freshmen owned remarkable finishes, one of whom was Barbara Szlendakova. In the pentathlon, she finished second to Kansas’ Candy Mason, who set a Big 12 Meet record. Szlendakova’s finish marked high enough to break the school record.

She also took eighth in the long jump and quickly started the 4×400 on Saturday.

It was finished equally as quickly by newcomer Victoria Gunnarson, who moved the team up two places in the last 100 meters.

ISU’s second freshman standout showing came from Lisa Griebel, who tossed for a first-place finish in the shot put. Her teammate Kris Curnyn, who qualified provisionally in the weight throw by placing second, also took second in the shot. Both Cyclone field competitors qualified provisionally in the shot.

Lee said, “It is quite an accomplishments in any event for a freshman to step up and win a championship.”

He said Curnyn was disappointed in taking the silver because as the favorite, she was hoping to win the meet, but losing to an ISU teammate isn’t quite as bad.

“If you’re going to lose it, you want to lose it to a teammate,” Lee said. “They were both happy and pleased with their results for the team’s success.”

Griebel said, “[It was] kind of surprising, kind of cool. I was just hoping to do my personal best.”

And she did. Her best mark in the shot measured 50-1 3/4.

She said she didn’t fully understand her accomplishment and thought it was just another meet, but she is getting the impression that “it is huge.”

She added that she “was so happy” with the team finish. “Our team overall did a really good job.”

Also excelling in the field were fourth and fifth-place finishes in the high jump by Leah Elbert and Kelly Cizek

Trina Radske leaped for third in the long jump to qualify provisionally.

Lee said Radske qualified despite battling an injury. “She gave it a best effort. She had one real big jump, but she fouled. That was encouraging for her that the leg was healthy enough, and she knows that she can still jump.”

On the distance side, Alienor Gilchrist led the Cyclones in the mile-run. Her journey around the indoor oval earned her a third place finish in the event with a time of 4:59.3.

Erin Bresnan qualified provisionally for nationals in the 800-meter.

Lee said that Bresnan ran a competitive race in a field that was without a favorite.

“We were very pleased for her,” he said. “She’s excited about her time, but she was little disappointed that she wasn’t able to hold onto third place down the straightaway.”

Bresnan, who clocked 2:08.73, smashed her personal record of 2:10.23.

She said, “I was really happy to finally break 2:10 because that has been a barrier for me.

“The entire team was thrilled to finish so well. As a senior, it’s been exciting to see the team improve each year,” Bresnan said.

On the men’s side, defending champion Nebraska took the cake again leaving Texas A&M and Texas with the second and third spots. Long distance powerhouse Colorado took fourth. ISU finished eleventh.

Friday’s remarkable race was legged by Colorado’s Adam Goucher, a multi-All American in distance running. The junior gave spectators a run for their money, clocking the fastest time in the nation by a 10-second margin in the 5,000-meter run.

After nearly lapping the seventh runner in the field, Goucher registered 13:38.23. The performance earned him a Big 12 Meet record and an automatic NCAA qualification.

Finishing 29 seconds after Goucher, Texas Tech’s Michael Njenga also beat the Big 12 record and qualified provisionally.

On Saturday, Goucher legged another automatic qualification in the 3,000 by winning the race with a time of 7:55.57. This time, second place runner Njenga of Texas Tech crossed the line only eleven seconds later, with Chuck Sloan of Oklahoma State right behind.

In the sprints, the Texas schools were a force.

ISU Men’s Coach Steve Lynn said, “The meet itself was a great meet. And that’s what you expect at this level, right from the jumps up through the distance events.”

In the 55-meter hurdles, Larry Wade of Texas A & M ran a 7.08 — the fastest time in the nation. In his triumph, he beat defending champion and Cyclone competitor Jason Woods, who placed second.

Woods said, “My place didn’t really bother me all that much. The only thing I was disappointed in was that I didn’t run a faster time.”

Fast or faster, Woods still qualified for the national meet.

“The people that were there and placed for us — they all did really good jobs,” Woods added.

Lynn said, “It’s been a frustrating indoor season. We’ve had just so many injuries and mishaps that have greatly affected the team. When you take out several All-Americans before you even get to the meet, it makes it really tough.”

And a few other things didn’t go the way of the Cyclones. Freshman Dan Reis was knocked out of the 1,000-meter competition. Chris Wycoff competed in the 55-meter hurdles and was part of a three-way tie. Unfortunately, only one man, Texas’ David Aaron, went on to finals.

Lynn said Wycoff, Aaron and Colorado’s Reggie DePass each timed 7.51 and had officially the same time. But with only eight people in the finals, something had to be done. Lynn said it came down to a several thousandths of a second, “which is not even a shirt’s width.”

All-American Saul Lempirikany, who placed fourth in the 5,000-meter run, didn’t finish the 3,000 because of an illness. He couldn’t breathe well enough to complete the contest.

“That added to our woes,” Lynn said.

In addition, Cyclone All-American David Lichoro strained a muscle and didn’t finish the 3,000, but placed third in the mile.

Ahead of Lichoro were Colorado’s Tom Reese in first (4:04.77) and Missouri’s Ray Hughes. The two men set meet records and qualified provisionally.

Still, a few positives remained among the injury and unfortunate outcomes.

Lynn said, “Joey Brunkhorst in the high jump came back and made 6-11 again. He’s really been a bright spot in the field events for us.”

Brunkhorst’s jump was good for sixth place for the Cyclones.

Randy Thompson ran well in the sprints for ISU, as his 21.23 split in the 200 earned him a provisional chance.

Others Lynn mentioned who may make the NCAA meet are Lempirikany and Lichoro. The men will compete for a spot in the nationals in the Last Chance Meet, which will be held at the Lied Recreation Center on Saturday.

Lynn said the team is looking forward to an outdoor season that should be more fun.

He said the guys are used to competing for titles, and being in the lower level of the conference is not something they are used to — or something they want to get used to.

“We’re not going to stay there,” Lynn said.