Former ISU runner makes World Championships debut, assistant coach gets new job

Photo: William Deaton/Iowa State Daily

ISU women’s cross-country runner Betsy Saina crosses the finish line first at the 2012 NCAA Cross-Country National Championship on Nov. 17 at E.P. Tom Sawyer Park in Louisville, Ky.

Kyle Heim
August 24, 2015

Betsy Saina finishes eighth in women’s 10,000-meter run at World Championships

Betsy Saina, who was an 11-time All-American, nine-time Big 12 champion and three-time national champion at Iowa State, placed eighth in the women’s 10,000-meter run at the IAAF World Championships at Beijing National Stadium on Monday.

She qualified for the World Championships after finishing second at the Kenyan National Championships in July.

Saina earned national titles in the 5,000-meter run at the 2012 NCAA Indoor Championship and the 10,000-meter run at the 2013 NCAA Outdoor Championship. She also placed first at the 2012 NCAA Cross-Country Championship.

Before her race Monday, Saina woke up ready to go.

Thankful for the health, woke up and ready to represent my country! @CycloneTrackXC @athletics_kenya!prayers for us pic.twitter.com/zpNvQCzqP4

— betsy saina (@bcsaina) August 24, 2015

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Will Palmer accepts new coaching position at Western Kentucky

After serving the past two years as an assistant track and cross-country coach at Iowa State, Will Palmer accepted a new position at Western Kentucky on Monday as the university’s distance coach.

Palmer worked primarily with women’s distance runners at Iowa State and was part of the consecutive Big 12 and Midwest Regional titles the ISU women’s cross-country team won in 2013 and 2014.

He also helped lead the Cyclones to a second place finish at last season’s 2014 NCAA Cross-Country Championship. The runner-up performance marked the team’s best finish at the event since 1985.