Despite the cold and bitter weather that conspired around the area, the Iowa State Track and Field team heated up at the Larry Wieczorek Invitational held at the UI Recreation Building in Iowa City, Iowa.

Starting on the women’s side, the sprints group had a strong outing against athletes from six other programs. In the open division of the 200m dash, sophomore Katarina Vlahovic got off to a fast start by winning her heat in a time 25.09 seconds. This time was good enough to place third overall. Vlahovic will compete again tomorrow in the 60m hurdles. Freshman Bria Barnes also finished well in the 200m closed division, placing ninth overall with a time of 25.11 seconds.

In the women’s distance events, the Cyclone women also got off to a fast start. The 1000m run had five Iowa State athletes competing, all of which ran in the fall as part of the cross country team. Senior Larkin Chapman turned in the Cyclones’ best performance in the event, finishing a close second in her heat to Wisconsin sophomore Madison Mooney with a time of 2:47.61.

Over in the 3,000m run, junior Winrose Chesang ran an outstanding first-time performance in a Cyclone uniform The Nanyuki, Kenya, native had previously been an 11-time All American at Iowa Central Community College before transferring to Ames this year. Chesang ran the final seven laps of her heat in at under 40 seconds a clip, finishing second to Wisconsin’s Victoria Heiligenthal in a time of 9:56.22. Freshman Grace Dickel also premiered as a Cyclone in this race, finishing 4th overall in 10:07.46.

Over on the men’s side, the Cyclones are currently ranked as the No. 11 team in the nation by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches’ Association’s weekly poll. Iowa State recorded their only victory of the day in the 1,000m. Senior Leonel Perez led the way for the Cyclones, finishing strong with a time of 2:26.91. Freshman Joe Schaefer followed suite in a time of 2:30.03.

In the 600m event, senior Roshon Roomes picked where he left off a month ago. The Woodbury, Minnesota, native ran in the same race that Festus Lagat broke Iowa State’s indoor 1,000m record at the Jimmy Grant Invitational at the same track on December 14th. Today, Roomes picked up momentum down the stretch of his heat, but ended up finishing a close second to Iowa freshman Wayne Lawrence Jr., who ran a school record of 1:16.55. Roomes recorded a time of 1:16.57. Fellow senior Daniel Nixon finished tenth overall in a time of 1:19.81.

The Cyclones will resume tomorrow afternoon in Iowa City at 1:30.