Sophomore discus thrower Emily March got off to a strong start on Thursday for the Iowa State track and field team, as she took second place in the women’s discus event at the Bobcat Invitational.

March, who broke the school record last season with a throw of 191 feet and two inches, started off the competition slowly, as she threw for 47.65 meters in her opening round before fouling twice in a row.

The initial mark was enough to get March into the top nine and final round though, as she recorded her best throw on her next attempt. Launching the discus a distance of 51.78 meters (169 feet, 10 inches), March recorded the fifth longest throw in Iowa State history, beating Essence Richardson’s mark of  169 feet and 4 inches from the 2018 Michael Johnson Invite.

Despite the effort, March was beaten out of the top spot by home favorite Alyssa Wilson of Texas State, who broke a school record of her own. On her third round throw, Wilson recorded a mark of 56.50 meters to best the previous mark by over 2 meters and lock up the championship. Her throw is currently the third best in the nation so far this season.

Kevin Sakson and Jonathan Gannon continued the Cyclone momentum in the field events by both securing a top finish in the men’s discus. Sakson finished third overall with a best throw of 52.70 meters on the day, while Gannon turned in a fifth place showing with his longest throw coming on his first attempt at 51.14 meters.

At the Raleigh Relays in Raleigh, N.C., the Cyclone distance runners started off their outdoor season in the 1500m and 10000m races, with both events containing at least 10 heats.

Chad Johnson led Iowa State in the men’s 1500m with a team-best 12th place finish overall. The junior finished seventh in heat 14 with a time of 3:42.40, working his way from the back of the pack to overtake two runners in the second fastest heat of the day.

Johnson was followed in the Iowa State camp by sophomore Timoty Sindt, who placed eighth in heat 9 in a time of 3:49.71. Rounding out the Cyclone quartet were Joe Schaeffer and David Thompson, with the sophomore Schaeffer placing the highest among his teammates with a fifth place finish in heat 4 (3:50.26). Thompson finished last in heat 7 with a time 3:55.60 to place 172nd overall.

In the women’s 10K, Dana Feyen made a comeback in the opening heat to finish eighth overall. Feyen started the race near last place, but was able to slowly work her way up and crossed the 6800 meter mark in eighth place. From there, she continued to push her pace and managed to run a final lap time of 1:14.77 to grab a top-10 spot in a time of 33:37.10. Feyen’s splits from the 8000 meter mark continually got faster, as she only ran above 1:20 once in that span.

In the second heat, Winrose Chesang and Brenna Cohoon finished 18th and 22nd respectively after both having strong starts out of the gate. Chesang led her teammate Cohoon throughout the race, finishing in a time of 34:55.40. Cohoon was not far behind though, as she crossed the line with a time of 35:02.42. In the third and final heat of the night, junior Grace Dickel was unable to finish the race, pulling out after the 6400 meter mark.

The track-tion continues tomorrow at both meets, with the field events at the Bobcat Inviational set to kick off at 9 am with the women’s hammer throw, and track events commencing at 4 pm with the women’s 400m hurdles.

The Raleigh Relays start with women’s discus at 9:30 am, and start track events in the morning as well with the running of the first three sections of the women’s 5000m.

Live results of both meets can be accessed on the schedule of the team’s athletics page.