The Cyclone men and women’s track and field teams legged laps, cleared high heights and had long throws at the Carle/Busey Invitational hosted by the University of Illinois over the weekend.

On the women’s side, All-American Kris Curnyn secured the secondplace slot in the weight throw and the shot put with distances of 59-1 1/4 and 48-6 1/4.

Cyclone Joanne Roepke finished in front in the 600-meter dash in a time of 1:34.68, recording a personal best.

“Its fun to do well and be able to be happy about the meets,” Roepke said.

She attributes some of the success she has had this season to the sprint coach, Scott Roberts, whose “training philosophy is beginning to pay off for us.

“Morale is high right now, people are having P.R.s [personal records] all over the place and breaking records here and there,” she said. “We’re looking stronger than we have ever before in my four years on the team.

“It’s exciting to realize that we can be competitive at the conference meet,” Roepke added.

Coach Dick Lee said, “We keep improving week to week. We’re progressing.”

In the 3,000-meter competition, Sydney Pounds cooked up a silver place with a time of 10:04.22. Stacey Armstrong and Gayle Nugent also had strong races, finishing the event fourth and sixth respectively.

In the mile, Alienor Gilchrist, new to Iowa State this semester, strided into second place with a personal record time of 4:55.46. Amber Garrett chased her teammate in and clocked 10:56.62, also a personal best.

For the men, highlights were the performances of distance runner David Lichoro and high jumper Joey Brunkhorst.

Brunkhorst soared over the 7-0 1/4 feet bar to become the 10th ISU jumper in history to clear the 7-0 mark.

Men’s Coach Steve Lynn said the highest that Brunkhorst had cleared before the weekend was 6-8. The leap was also the first time he took first place in his collegiate career.

“It was great!” Brunkhorst said. “It was so exciting. Everybody there was cheering.”

Lynn said, “This was a big improvement for him. He’s doing a good job.”

Lynn also smiled upon the races of Lichoro, who won the mile in 4:14.88 and the 3,000-meter. But due to bumping another runner early in the race, Lichoro was disqualified the 3,000-meter.

Lichoro said the weekend races “were comfortable and everything was all right.”

He said he is just getting into shape.

Lynn said the men’s team remains plagued with “major injury problems,” but those who are running are “continuing to make good solid improvements.”

Lynn said he was also content with Dan Cooper’s 600 performance. Cooper won his heat and took fifth overall with a time of 1:21.84.

Both Lee and Lynn have their sights on the Big 12 Conference meet, which will be held in Ames on Feb. 27-28.

Lynn said the UNI Open this weekend will serve as preparation for the approaching conference competition.

Lee said hopefully everyone runs successfully at conference.

Until then, he said, “We just kind of knock on wood and hope we stay healthy.”