AMES – In a meet full of local competition, the Cyclones closed the regular season with a chance to fine-tune some performances before postseason Friday night.
Field events grab 18 top-five finishes and six PRs
In the women’s hammer, senior Kaitlyn Burson placed third with a throw of 190-4 and redshirt sophomore Ella O’Neall took sixth with a throw of 170-5. On the men’s side, two out of five Cyclones placed in the top five.
Senior Cam Jones took second with a throw of 199 feet and redshirt junior Garret Wagner took fifth with a throw of 193-11. Redshirt freshman Brandon Fischer placed ninth with a throw of 172-5. Freshmen Nathan Rotherham and Hanson King took 11th and 14th with throws of 164-7, a PR, and 144-2.
In the women’s shot put, O’Neall took third with a throw of 47-11 ¼ and freshman Candra King took seventh with a throw of 43-5 ¾.
On the men’s side, Jones took first with a throw of 61-8 ½ and Wagner took sixth with a throw of 54-7 ½. Rotherham and King took ninth and 10th with throws of 49-11 ¼ and 48-4 ½.
Freshman Maia Denge-Hagan, junior Kailynn Gubbels and senior Kiersten Fisher took third, fourth and fifth in the women’s high jump with heights of 5-6, 5-4 ¼ and 5-2 ¼. On the men’s side, redshirt sophomore Braden Goellner won the event with a height of 6-9.
In the long jump, sophomore Amari Lang won on the women’s side with a distance of 20-2 ½, a PR that puts her at seventh in school history. On the men’s side, sophomore Justin Gleason took third with a jump of 23-5 ¼.
Sophomore Cooper Spurgeon and freshman Chase Lathrop took seventh and eighth with jumps of 22-2 ¼ and 21-10. Senior Thai Thompson also took fourth in the men’s pole vault with a height of 15-7.
In the men’s discus, senior Daniel Norris and Fischer swept the top two positions with throws of 179-1 and 169-1. Lathrop and Thompson took 10th and 13th with throws of 135-4 and 122 feet. Sophomore Katie Strotman took fifth on the women’s side with a throw of 137-4.
In the javelin, Gubbels won with a throw of 130-1 on the women’s side which resulted in a PR. On the men’s side, sophomore Nathan Vincent and redshirt sophomore Kole Becker took second and third with throws of 192-2 and 184-6. Spurgeon and freshman Tristan Rheingans took seventh and eighth with throws of 171-9 and 159-4. Vincent, Spurgeon and Rheingans all threw PRs.
Sandvig sweeps women’s 100 and 200 meter dashes
Sophomore Brooklyn Sandvig continued to build off her upward trend from the last few meets, as she took first and set PRs in both the 100 and 200 meter dashes. Her 11.49 in the 100 meter dash was .02 seconds off from the school record, while her 23.39 in the 200 meter dash was also the second fastest in school history.
Remaining sprinters search for speed
Alongside the speed from Sandvig, senior Sydney Willits took second in the women’s 100 meter dash and third in the women’s 200 meter dash. Willits ran an 11.77 in the 100 and a 24.36 in the 200. Amari Lang took 10th in the women’s 100 with a 12.25 and freshman Ellie Lynch took 16th in the women’s 200 with a 26.23.
In the women’s 400, all four Cyclones placed in the top 10, including a sweep of the top two. Freshman Karryne David and sophomore Camryn Hubbard took first and second with times of 54.96 and 55.32, a PR for Hubbard. Sophomore Cameron Moon took fifth with a time of 56.27 and Lynch took eighth with a time of 1:00.41.
Sophomore Mikey McClain added to his profile with another first-place finish in the men’s 200 meter dash, with a time of 20.77. Ty Koehnk added a PR to his freshman season with a second-place finish in the 400 meter dash, with a time of 47.43.
The men’s 4×400 relay team only competed against Northern Iowa, but the relay dual never saw separation of more than 0.75 seconds. Iowa State’s team of Gus Langford, Dugion Blackman, Darius Kipyego and Calvin Curcija took first with a time of 3:06.04, beating out the Panthers by 0.75 seconds.
Hurdlers establish presence in top five
Kiersten Fisher ran the third fastest time in the prelims and would later take second in the finals in the women’s 100 meter hurdles. Her preliminary time was a 14.01, followed by a 13.86 in the finals. Her PR tied for the 10th-fastest time in school history in the event.
In the men’s 110 meter hurdles, junior Alec Carr, redshirt sophomore Jack Latham and sophomore Grayson Hartman placed second, third and fifth both in the prelims and the finals.
Carr ran a 13.86 in the prelims, good for a PR and sixth in school history. Later he ran a 13.99 in the finals. Latham ran a 13.99 in the prelims and a 14.04 in the finals. Hartman ran a 14.30 in the prelims and PRed in the finals with a time of 14.27. In the men’s 400 meter hurdles, freshmen Aidan Jacobsen and Tristan Rheingans took first and seventh with times of 53.07 and 56.19.
Cyclone men’s and women’s trios show off speed in 800
In the women’s 800 meter run, freshman Becca Heitzig and juniors Makayla Clark and Kaia Holtkamp grabbed the top three finishes out of a 15-runner field.
Clark took first with a time of 2:01.99, currently the 20th fastest in the nation. Heitzig found an outdoor PR with her second-place finish of 2:06.54, while Holtkamp finished shortly behind in third with a time of 2:07.40, a PR across both indoor and outdoor.
On the men’s side, the Cyclones saw three times under 1:50. Senior Tyler Carreon won it with a time of 1:48.24, while freshman Jacoby Harmon and senior Leroy Russell III took fifth and seventh with times of 1:49.07 and 1:49.09.
1500 meter runs close the night
With the men’s and women’s 1500s broken up into different classes, the Cyclones competed with their four fastest men in the Fitness Sports 1500 meter run and their six fastest women in the Lever 1500 run.
In the Fitness Sports 1500, freshman Robin Kwemoi-Bera took third with a 3:39.71, the seventh fastest in school history. Sophomore Devan Kipyego and senior Silas Winters came in a few seconds behind with times of 3:42.25 and 3:43.18, which resulted in sixth and eighth. Junior Emanuel Galdino took 11th with a time of 3:52.63.
In the Lever 1500, junior Maelle Porcher took first with another PR of 4:18.71, sixth-fastest in school history. Freshman Betty Kipkore came in shortly behind in 4:19.90, taking second.
Redshirt junior Riley Beach came in fourth with a 4:21.30 and gained three spots in the final two laps. Redshirt sophomore Mya Trober and sophomore Sydney Morrell took sixth and seventh with times of 4:24.92 and 4:26.41, while senior Kiki Connell took 11th with a time of 4:32.34.
In the traditional women’s 1500, sophomore McKinley Wheeler and freshman Josie Baker took first and second with times of 4:32.54 and 4:32.81, Baker’s time being a PR.
Freshman Olivia Verde and sophomore Kayci Martensen both took seventh and eighth with times of 4:35.67 and 4:36.55. Redshirt sophomore Aspen Fulbright and freshman Camryn Sattler ended up with 11th and 14th place finishes, with times of 4:38.38 and 4:45.09.
In the traditional men’s 1500, junior Nathan Pestka and senior Riley Simpson also swept of the top two spots. Pestka claimed first with a 3:47.86 and Simpson took second with a 3:47.98.
Shortly behind the top two were junior Hanibal Haile and freshman Isaac Rivera, who both took sixth and eighth, with times of 3:51.03 and 3:52.30. Freshman AJ Schermerhorn finished in 15th with a time of 4:02.46.
Big 12 Championship meet awaits Cyclones
With the regular season complete, the Cyclones will look to put up a fight at the Big 12 Championship meet in Lawrence, Kansas from Thursday through Saturday. With a new-look Big 12, runners are predicting tougher competition to push them past their limits.
