The Iowa State Cyclone men’s and women’s track and field teams spent the weekend in Fayetteville, Arkansas, at the Razorback Invitational. Overall, the Cyclones struggled in the stacked field but were able to shine in a couple of events.

Here are the three big takeaways from the weekend:

Cyclones shine in 3,000-meter race

So far this season the distance runners have been a strong point for the Cyclones. The weekend in Fayetteville was the same as the men and women had great showings in the 3,000-meter race. 

On the women’s side, Kaylee Tobaben set a new PR for herself with a time of 9:51.51. which was also good enough to win the event.

The men also had a great showing placing three runners in the top five. Ryan Watts placed second with a time of 8:07.33, Quinton Orr came in fourth with a time of 8:10.97 and Seth Clevenger set a new PR and placed fifth with a time of 8:12.72. 

Cyclones have a solid showing in the mile

The 3,000 meters was nor the only distance race that saw the Cyclones perform well. The mile run was also a strong point for Iowa State.

The women started things off by placing two runners inside the top 10. Bella Heikes placed third (4:49.43) and Riley Beach placed eighth and set a new PR (4:52.68).

The men placed three inside the top 10 in the mile as well. Devan Kipyego placed third (4:09.30), right behind him was Kelvin Bungei who placed fourth (4:09.33) and Ernest Mattson placed seventh (4:10.79).

Men place high in 800-meter

The Iowa State men had a great showing in the 800-meter race, placing two runners in the top four.

Darius Kipyego set a new PR and placed third with a time of 1:46.86. Behind him was teammate Jason Gomez who placed fourth with a time of 1:47.77.

The Cyclones faced a great challenge at Razorback Invitational. There were a lot of strong showings that the Cyclones could try to improve on during the rest of the season.

The Cyclones will be back in action Saturday in Ames when they host the Iowa State Classic.