Hall to go in hurdles double at Sun Angel Classic

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Kaylyn Hall (left), Katarina Vlahovic (middle) and Tatiana Aholou (right) compete in the women’s 60-meter hurdles at the Cyclone Invite on Jan. 23, 2021.

Adarsh Tamma

Kaylyn Hall will be looking to add to her initial run of success this weekend, as she and the Iowa State track and field team will travel to Tempe, Ariz., to take part in the Sun Angel Classic.

The meet will include athletes from 11 teams, including the Cyclones’ Big 12 colleagues Kansas. Iowa State’s entries consist of many of the same athletes who competed in the Texas State Bobcat Invitational, and Raleigh Relays meets a couple of weeks ago.

That list includes Hall, who will be competing in four events for the Cyclone women over Friday and Saturday. Hall made a strong start to the outdoor season at the Bobcat Invite, where she took down personal records in both the 100m and 400m hurdles.

Hall’s time of 13.34 seconds in the 100m event ranks third in program history, while her 400m mark of 59.32 sits just outside the top-10. Along with the hurdles, she will also be competing in the 200m and 4x400m relay.

Elsewhere for the Cyclone women, thrower Emily March is their sole entry in the discus throw, her primary event. March recorded the program record last season with a throw of 58.27 meters, or just over 191 feet.

She took second at the Bobcat Invitational, falling to Texas State’s Alyssa Wilson with a top throw of 51.78 meters.

In the hammer, March shattered her personal best at the Bobcat Invite, as she threw for 178 feet in the preliminary round, which broke her previous best by 18 feet. March made the final but finished ninth to eventual champion Wilson.

March’s teammate Antonella Creazzola finished sixth, as she too broke her personal record with a throw of 188 feet, nine inches. Creazzola will stick to just the hammer this weekend for the Cyclones.

For the Cyclone men, Zach Kraft will be making his season debut in the decathlon Friday morning. Kraft spent the indoor season competing primarily in the 60m and shot put. Having not competed since February, Kraft will begin the competition at 11 a.m. with the 100m dash, then compete in the long jump, shot put, high jump and 400m events to wrap things up.

The 800m run will feature a pair of All-Americans in Jason Gomez and Cebastian Gentil, who will lead a team-high six entries for the event. Both Gomez and Gentil earned their All-American status in the distance medley relay, with Gomez helping the Cyclones to a sixth-place finish at this year’s NCAA Championships and Gentil helping them finish ninth in 2021.

Gomez also earned a first-team All-American nod last year by finishing fifth in the 800m run, an event he primarily competed in during the indoor season.

Gomez and Gentil will be joined by newcomers Darius Kipyego and Tanner Anderson, who will be making their outdoor season debuts this weekend. For Anderson, it will be his first outdoor meet for the Cyclones, as he missed all of 2021 due to injury. Anderson transferred to Iowa State from UC Riverside, where he ran in primarily the 800m and 4x400m relay.

Kipyego, meanwhile, produced some strong results in the indoor season, including helping the Cyclones take silver in the distance medley relay at the Big 12 Indoor meet in February.

On the field, Kevin Sakson will once again go for the shot put-discus throw double, while teammate Jonathan Gannon will stick to just the hammer. Sakson finished third in the shot put at the Bobcat Invite with a meet-best throw of 172 feet, 10 inches.

A full list of athletes competing this weekend can be found below.

The Sun Angel Classic kicks off Friday for the Cyclones, with live results available here.

Iowa State entries:

Men:

100m Dash: Trent Hamerski

200m Dash: Gage Clay, Joven Nelson, Charlie Johnson, James Ezeonu, Trent Hamerski

400m Dash: Gage Clay, Charlie Johnson

800m Run: Jason Gomez, Chase McPherson, Darius Kipyego, Cebsatian Gentil, Peter Smith, Tanner Anderson

1500m Run: Nate Mueller, Joe Schaefer, Noah Kohut-Jackson, David Thompson

110m Hurdles: James Ezeonu

400m Hurdles: Joven Nelson

4x400m Relay: Gage Clay, Charlie Johnson, Joven Nelson, James Ezeonu

Shot Put: Kevin Sakson

Discus: Kevin Sakson, Jonathan Gannon

Hammer Throw: Joe Ryan, Jonathan Gannon

Decathlon: Zach Kraft

Women:

200m Dash: Zakiyah Amos, Kaylyn Hall, Katarina Vlahovic, Bria Barnes

400m Dash: Bria Barnes, Zakiyah Amos

800m Run: Maggie Davis, Riley Beach, Bella Heikes

1500m Run: Janette Schraft, Madelynn Hill

3000m Steeplechase: Grace Dickel, Sarah Murrow, Kiki Connell

100m Hurdles: Kaylyn Hall, Katarina Vlahovic, Sydney Willits

400m Hurdles: Kaylyn Hall

4x400m Relay: Section 1 – Riley Beach, Maggie Davis, Bella Heikes, Sydney Willits

Section 2 – Bria Barnes, Zakiyah Amos, Katarina Vlahovic, Kaylyn Hall

High Jump: Megan Durbin, Sydney Willits

Discus: Emily March

Hammer Throw: Antonella Creazzola, Emily March, Danielle Hoyle

Javelin: Sydney Willits