The Iowa State Cyclone track and field team headed to Virginia Beach, Virginia, to compete in the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships this weekend. The Cyclones struggled as a team over the weekend, placing 43rd in women’s and 50th in men’s, but showed a couple bright spots in individual events.
Women’s 400-meter
Cyclone junior Rachel Joseph started things off for herself on Friday. Joseph ran a great time of 51.86 seconds in the 400-meter run. The time was good enough to place eighth in prelims to take the final spot in Saturday’s final for the women’s 400-meter.
On Saturday, in the women’s 400-meter dash final, Joseph upped her game and ran a better time of 51.58 seconds, which was good enough to place fifth overall and earn her first-team All-American honors. This will be a great building block as Joseph looks to continue her already strong season into the outdoor track season.
Men’s heptathlon
Iowa State had a top-10 finisher in the men’s heptathlon. Senior Thai Thompson took home 10th place from the grueling seven-event heptathlon.
(Maeley Rosengren)
Thompson’s best event on the day was the 1000-meter run, where Thompson excelled and came in second place with a time of 2:37.63, which was a personal best for him. It earned him second team All-American honors.
Men’s 800-meter
The men’s 800 saw a Cyclone advance to the finals. Senior Darius Kipyego competed in the finals for Iowa State. Kipyego ran a blistering time of 1:47.21 in prelims, which placed him fourth going into the finals on Saturday night.
On Saturday, in the finals, Kipyego slowed a bit, running a time of 1:48.79, finishing the year with a seventh-place finish. Kipyego will also finish the year as a first-team All-American.
The Cyclones will look to build off the excellent indoor season they had next weekend when they start the outdoor season.
