Sydney Willits’ historical performance capped off an impressive showing from Iowa State at the NCAA indoor track and field championships which saw the second most participants in program history.
The Cyclones had a great showing, including many athletes coming home with some hardware.
Willits brings home the gold
The Cyclones’ best finish came Friday night in the women’s long jump. Willits won the event with her last jump, a personal best, and a school record of 6.74 meters. The junior beat out Florida’s Claire Bryant by .03 meters, who took home first place at the SEC Indoor Championships.
Willits entered the final round of the long jump leading the pack with a jump of 6.68 meters before Bryant took the lead with a 6.71-meter jump. Willits edged Bryant on her last jump to take home the gold.
Willits became the first national champion for Iowa State since Wesley Kiptoo in 2021 and the first long jump national champion in program history.
Rewriting school history
Willits was not the only cyclone to make school history over the weekend.
Sophomore Rachel Joseph placed 15th in the women’s 400 meters, good enough to earn Joseph second-team All-America honors, Rachel is the first woman in school history to earn All-America honors in the women’s indoor 400 meters.
The men’s distance medley relay also placed top five in the Iowa State record books with a time of 9:30.07, good enough for seventh overall and first-team All-America honors.
Cam Jones also earned a pair of All-America honors by placing 14th in the weight throw with a throw of 21.47 meters and 11th in the shot put with a throw of 18.67 meters. Jones was the first Cyclone in history to earn multiple honors in the weight throw, as he is now a three-time All-American. He was also only one of two athletes to earn All-America honors in both events.
Men’s strong 800-meter finish caps off season
One of the strongest events for the Cyclones all season long has been the men’s 800-meter dash. That did not change over the weekend.
Senior Finley Mclear placed third with a time of 1:47.68, following him was junior Darius Kipyego placing sixth with a time of 1:47.99. Mclear’s bronze-medal finish helped cap off the strong season the men had in the event.
The duo also made history by becoming the first duo to ever earn multiple All-America honors in the 800-meters.
Overall, the Cyclones stood out in the indoor track and field season. In just one week, both teams head outside and travel to Tampa, Florida, to compete in the USF Bulls Invitational and kick off the outdoor season.
