The Iowa State track and field program began the 29th annual Iowa State Classic in strong fashion on Friday, with many Cyclone athletes running personal bests. The meet has become a mainstay on the indoor calendar, with some of the nation’s most talented athletes competing at the Lied Recreation Athletic Center over the weekend.

The afternoon session began with the women’s 400m dash. Sophomore Zakiyah Amos continued her fast start to the indoor season, placing fourth overall in a time of 55.15 seconds.

The performance was another personal best and was also enough to put Amos at the fifth spot on Iowa State’s all time leaderboard, passing former Cyclone Nawal El Moutawakel-Bennis.

El Moutawakel-Bennis is most famous for winning gold in the 400 meter hurdles at the 1984 Summer Olympics, the first African of Muslim descent to win such an honor. She also won the same event at the NCAA Outdoor National Championships that summer.

In the 600 yard run, freshman Bria Barnes won the event for the Cyclones, winning her heat in a time of 1:25.66. The Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, native last competed for Iowa State last month at the Larry Wieczorek Invitational in Iowa City, where she finished ninth in the 200m dash.

Over in the field events, the Cyclone women picked more victories with sophomore Erika Furbeck winning the competition on her first jump. Her premier attempt of 6.03 meters was 0.17 meters farther than runner-up Carsyn Spurgeon, a junior from Tulsa. Furbeck’s teammate Jalaiya Bartley placed 14th in this event.

Closing out the field events for the Cyclone women, sophomore Megan Durbin finished 13th in the high jump with a best mark of 1.63 meters, while in the weight throw, the tandem of Keiara Williams and Antonella Creazzola finished 12th and 14th respectively.

Moving over to the Cyclone men, the victory train continued for Iowa State.

In the 400m dash, senior Roshon Roomes led the way for the Cyclones, finishing first overall in a time of 47.44 seconds. Behind Roomes, sophomore Gage Clay broke his career best to place fourth in a time of 48.25 seconds. He was followed by sophomore Cebastian Gentil with a time of 48.27 seconds.

Gentil ran the 400m leg in Iowa State’s school record breaking Distance Medley Relay at the Indiana Relays last week. Fellow sophomore Nate Kennedy placed 13th with a season-best time of 49.35 seconds.

Closing out the afternoon session was the men’s weight throw, where the pair of Jonathan Gannon and Joe Ryan broke their personal records. The two finished 10th and 11th respectively, with best throws of 16.20 and 16.04 meters.

In the evening session, it was a duo of distance races to wrap up Friday’s events. Starting off in Women’s 5000m, the invite section was the one to watch, as junior Cailie Logue was set to compete in the field.

The former Kansas high school champion started out strong and stayed there, keeping with the lead pack of six or so runners for the first half of the race. The field slowly strung out over the track, and the battle for first was between Logue, unattached athlete Caroline Kurgat and Air Force junior Maria Mettler.

Kurgat pulled away on the last lap to finish first, while Logue fell back to third place with a time of 15:51.10, close to the PR she ran at the BU Invitational in December. In the 3000m Invite section, Logue’s cross country teammate Abby Caldwell captured another personal record for the Cyclones, when she finished ninth with a time of 9:26.49. 

Despite these race conditions, the Cyclones continued to produce personal bests as the rest of the women’s 3000m runners also broke their collegiate bests. At the forefront was junior Winrose Chesang, making her home meet debut. The former junior college All-American led out strong, as she followed the pacemaker to a time of 9:41.10.

Freshman Madelynn Hill followed suit in ninth place, crossing the line in 9:48.70. Finally in the 5000m run, freshman Dana Feyen placed fifth with a time of 17:03.97, while fellow underclassman Gable Sepierda lowered his lifetime best in the 3000m by more than ten seconds to finish 11th in his section with a time of 8:19.50.

The Cyclones will be back in action Saturday to finish up the Iowa State Classic. Field events are slated to begin at approximately noon with the men’s triple jump, while running events will start with the women’s 60m hurdles.