The Iowa State men’s and women’s cross country teams competed at the District V Meet on November 16. The women’s team shared first place honors with the University of Missouri and secured their bid to the NCAA Cross Country Championship in Tucson, Arizona.

The women’s team showed great improvements at the district meet by tying a Missouri team that beat them by 60 points at the conference meet. “I am very pleased with the results,” Women’s Cross County Head Coach Dick Lee commented. “We have shown great improvement since the conference meet.”

The team was led by Sydney Pounds with a fifth place finish overall. Pounds ran the 5,000-meter course in 17:31. Jane Groves finished at seventh place with a time of 17:40, and junior Emily Martini finished in eighth place with a time of 17:43.

“I usually am our first runner but I am happy for Sydney and the team. I ran as hard as I could,” Groves commented about her run. Groves also commented about the intensity of the race. “It was a personal battle for me. It felt like Sydney and me were fighting with Missouri for the lead positions.”

“Our three runners in the top eight gave a big plus. This gave a little more margin for our fourth and fifth runners,” Coach Lee said about his top three runners.

The Cyclones fourth and fifth runners were Laurie Meythaler and Amber Grady. Meythaler stepped up big as a freshman and finished with a time of 18:07 in 19th place. Amber Grady completed the scoring for Iowa State with a 29th place finish and a time of 18:20.

Kim Iverson and Stacey Armstrong were the sixth and seventh runners for the Cyclones. “Personally it wasn’t a good race for me, but I’m happy the team will qualify. We are gaining confidence and I think we can finish in the top 15 at nationals,” Armstrong said.

“Everybody ran well. It was really a team effort,” Coach Lee said about his team’s finish.

Lee also commented about nationals. “We are really looking forward to nationals. What kept everyone going was the idea of going to Arizona,” Lee joked.

The Iowa State men’s cross country team finished third at the District V meet behind Oklahoma State University and the University of Nebraska.

The team did not receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Cross Country Championship, but two members qualified individually.

Kevin Farrow and Simeon Wright qualified for nationals by finishing in the top ten.

Kevin led the way for the Cyclones on the 10,000-meter course. He finished in fifth place with a time of 31:01, less than a minute behind winner Jonah Kiptarus from Nebraska. Wright also had a good race with an eighth place overall finish. His time was 31 minutes and 13 seconds.

“I’m pleased I qualified for nationals,” Farrow said of his run. “Hopefully I can be in the top 25 there, along with Simeon. He’s really running well also.”

Iowa State’s third runner, Saul Lampirikany, finished the race at 11th place. His time was 31:36. Corey Ihmels finished with a time of 31:42 at 15th place.

Jonathon Estabrook rounded out the scoring for the Cyclones with a 28th place finish and a time of 31:42.

Iowa State could be chosen as one of four at-large teams for the NCAA Cross Country Championship.

Farrow commented, “It’s a real disappointment the team didn’t qualify, but there’s still a chance.”