ISU freshman Elijah Young and Iowa freshman Kaleb Kesselring attended Lincoln High School together. They became great friends on and off the track.

When college came along, both of them parted ways, but on Jan. 24, they competed against each other for the first time at the Big 4 Duals in Ames.

Kesselring competed in the 60-meter dash, while Young raced in the 4×400-meter. Kesselring finished with a time of 7.36 for Iowa, and Young’s 4×400 team finished with a time of 3:17.99. In the quadrangular format, Iowa outscored Iowa State in overall points.

Was it a rivalry between the two?

“Seeing him on a collegiate level, also D1, was nice. Like, yo, that’s my friend. We’ve been through a lot together since middle school,” Young said. “But at the same time it’s like, man, that sucks because that’s my rival. I shook up with him. That was nice.”

Kesselring said it was cool seeing teammates because it means a little bit more.

“It’s sort of a rivalry, but at the same time, it gives running more meaning,” Kesselring said, “That’s the thing when you’re in a sport where it’s running. Some people think running is a punishment from other sports and they don’t think it’s fun. But it is fun when you have rivalries like that. All your hard work is going toward a competitive thing like that.”

Young and Kesselring will meet each other again at the Iowa State Classic in Ames on Feb. 13.

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