Mile posts: Items on Annie Frisbie, Obsie Birru, Andrew Jordan, Biya Simbassa, Brogan Austin, Trevor Albert, Morgan Lawson

A former Iowa State All-American and All-Big 12 athlete made a historic debut for her marathon career Sunday.

Annie Frisbie finished seventh overall and as the third American at the 50th running of the New York City Marathon. The Minnesota Distance Elite's times of 2 hours, 26 minutes, 18 seconds makes her the fourth-fastest American woman making her marathon debut. The only Americans faster were Jordan Hasay with a 2:23:00 at Boston in 2017, Emily Sisson with a 2:23:08 at London in 2019 and Kara Goucher at New York in 2008 with her 2:25:53 effort.

"The streets of nyc did not disappoint!," Frisbie wrote on Instagram. "The race truly lives up to the hype and more! Went into the weekend with confidence and came out with a 7th-place overall finish."

Frisbie, leading off this version of the WEEKEND UPDATE of the best performances by Iowa-based collegiate and postcollegiate distance runners, ran with the leaders through 25 kilometers before she fell back several seconds. Frisbie, the third of three women's finishers in the top seven from the state of Wisconsin, ran the first half in 1:12:43 while covering the more difficult and hilly second half in 1:13:35 while earning $7,500.

Former Johnston High prep standout and Grand View NAIA national champion Obsie Birru also had a strong effort, covering the 26.2-mile distance in 2:38:54 to place 16th overall. The resident of Phoenix was the sixth-best American in the race won by Kenya's Peres Jepchirchir in 2:22:39.

On the men's side, former Ottumwa High and University of Iowa standout Kevin Lewis finished 21st. Lewis, also a Minnesota Distance Elite athlete in the Twin Cities, ran 2:22:39 in a race won by Kenya's Albert Korir in 2:08:22.

The previous day, the USA 5K Championships were held as part of the Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5K in New York's Central Park. It was former Cyclone Andrew Jordan who earned top honors among former Iowa collegians, with Jordan running 13:56 over the 3.1-mile distance. Jordan, an All-American and Big 12 Male Cross Country Athlete of the Year in 2017, ended his career at the University of Washington after transferring from Iowa State after the spring of 2019.

Biya Simbassa padded his lead to an insurmountable 40 points atop the 2021 USATF Running Circuit Standings by placing ninth in 13:58. The former Sioux City North and Iowa Central Community College athlete now living in Flagstaff, Ariz., ran 13:58. Former Iowa State All-Big performer Dan Curts finished 15th in 14:06. Josh Yeager, a former Center Point-Urbana and Drake University standout, took 24th place in 14:21. Yeager runs for Minnesota Distance Elite in his first season as a professional. Also in his first year after a standout career at Iowa is former Valley High prep Daniel Soto. The Hansons-Brooks Distance Project runner ended up 26th in 14:34 in a race won by Tinman Elite's Drew Hunter in 13:53.

Another Tinman athlete, Brogan Austin, broke the course record at the Indianapolis Monumental half marathon on Saturday. The former Boone and Drake star covered the 13.1-mile course in a new personal-best effort of 1:02:24, topping his own course record from 2018 by 15 seconds

Runablaze Iowa's Blake Whalen, a former Dubuque Senior and Iowa Central athlete, ended up 13th in 1:05:11. That time trimmed 16 seconds off his personal best set at the IMT Des Moines half marathon three weeks earlier. His Runablaze teammate MacCoy Benzen finished 100th in 1:14:00 while masters runner Mark Thompson, also an Iowa resident, was two spots back in 1:15:17. Running Wild Elite's Dalton Rice (1:16:06) and Elliott Klauer (1:16:49) also finished in the top 125.

In the featured marathon, Steve Froeschle of the Running Wild Elite team finished seventh overall, shattering his personal record by clocking a 2:21:23. The former Davenport Assumption and St. Ambrose student covered the second half in 1:10:30 in a race won in 2:16:22. Iowan Kyle Read (2:35:27) also produced a strong 49th-place finish.

In the women's competition, Runablaze's Amanda Edwards of Dubuque was the top Iowan in 59th place in 2:58:27. Edwards, six months after giving birth to her third son, ran 1:27:57 over the second half. Edwards is a former Dubuque Hempstead and Wartburg College runner. Iowan Whitney Donaldson ran 3:07:50 and Running Wild Elite's Becca Mallon of Iowa City ran 3:08:29.

Moving now to college cross country, where the Grand View University men's cross country team captured their first Heart of America title Saturday in dominant fashion, scoring 24 points to easily top Benedictine by 55 points and giving head coach Jerry Monner his first conference coach of the year award. Winning the individual title, his first in the Heart of America, was Vikings senior Trevor Albert in a new school record 24:50.6 over 8 kilometers. Albert, who is from Eldon, nipped .1 off his time set at the Great Lakes Challenge on Oct. 23.

The Vikings also had the fourth-, fifth-, sixth-, eighth- and ninth-place finishers, led by Hawkeye Community College transfer Sam Mickelson. The junior ran 25:34.3 to become the No. 2 runner in school history.

Senior Isaiah Wittrock (25:38.3) of Richland and freshman Stevie Salas (25:39.0) were next for Grand View, with Salas breaking his own freshman school record. Senior Ben Huftalin, who hails from Osage, and senior Chris Hatch were the final Grand View scorers in 25:53.6 and 25:54.4.

Also earning all-conference honors were junior Tony Rodriguez, a former Des Moines East prep, in 10th in 25:56, junior Jalen Peterson of Atlantic in 12th in 26:02 and senior Ahren Davis of Ankeny in 15th in 26:14.

Other top finishers from Iowa colleges were Graceland sophomore Dillon Grover in seventh place in 25:50.0 and William Penn junior Vernon Trozzi in 11th in 26:00.6. Trozzi became the program's first national qualifier since 2016. Kress is a former Davenport West prep. The Grand View team, Grover and Trozzi all qualified for NAIA nationals in Fort Vancouver, Wash., on Nov. 19.

The Heart of America women's individual champion also came from Grand View, with senior Morgan Lawson leading the 5K field by over 30 seconds after running 18:22.1. Lawson, from Ottumwa, won her first conference title while leading the Vikings to third in the team standings with 72 points, behind Benedictine (49) and Baker (56).

Also earning first-team all-conference honors for a finish in the top 10 was Vikings senior Ceyda Nazli of Douds in 18:57. Nazli captured third place. Placing 12th and earning honorable mention all-conference honors was Emma Swanson, a junior from Ankeny, in 19:33.

Reigning conference champion Kelsi Huhndorf settled for runner-up honors in the 5K race in 18:55.2. Junior teammate Jessica Ertz was seventh in 19:19.1, helping Mount Mercy finish fourth in the team race. Both are former Marion High preps.

Clarke University picked up a 10th-place finish from senior Ricar Mends in 19:28.9.

Graceland ended up with three in the top 20, led by junior Grace Stewart in 14th place in 19:30.9. Stewart is from Perry and a DMACC transfer. Taking 17th was senior Ashlynn Perkins in 19:36.7 and senior Keagan Perkins in 20th in 19:43.2.

Grand View's Lawson and Nazli, along with Mount Mercy's Huhndorf and Ertz, qualified for NAIA nationals in Fort Vancouver, Wash.

The Dordt University men's cross country achieved history on Saturday by becoming the first Great Plains Athletic Conference team to compile a perfect score of 15 during the conference meet in Orange City. The Defenders' score of 15 topped the league record of 17 points set by Doane in 1969.

Dordt finished 1-6 in taking its fourth consecutive conference title, with senior Davis Tebben earning his first collegiate win ever by crossing the 8K finish line first in 25:52. Tebben, last year's GPAC runner-up, earned all-conference honors for the first time.

Jacob Vander Plaats, a senior from Sioux Center, became a four-time all-conference runner for the Defenders by taking runner-up honors in 26:04. Eric Steiger, the GPAC champion in 2018, placed third overall in 26:08. Nic Veldhorst was fourth in 26:09 as both he and Steiger earned all-conference honors for the fourth time. Joe Anderson, a junior from George, rounded out the scorers for the Defenders in fifth in 26:18 to earn all-conference honors for the third time. Ethan Summerhays placed sixth (26:26) and Brooks DeWaard finished ninth (26:56) to make the first team.

Taking honorable mention all-conference honors were Trey Engen (13th, 27:04) and Peter Shippy (14th, 27:09). Engen is from Algona, Shippy from Sioux Center.

For Northwestern College, senior Ian Wiersma was also all-conference with an eighth-place finish in 26:40. Levi Cross, a senior and former Iowa Christian Academy runner, was 17th in 27:24 and teammate Dawson Jacobsma was 18th in 27:28. Jacobsma is from Sheldon.

Dordt, along with Wiersma, received bids into the NAIA nationals in Vancouver, Wash., on Nov. 19.

The Dordt women captured their eighth conference title in 10 years and an automatic berth to nationals by scoring 54 points, 23 ahead of Hastings and 25 ahead of Morningside. Jessica Kampman led the way for the Defenders with a runner-up finish in 19:04 over the 5K course. Kampman became a two-time all-conference runner.

Margaret Myskowski was 10th overall to take all-conference honors for the first time in 19:30. Eden Winslow, the GPAC runner-up in 2020, finished 11th in 19:30 and earned all-conference honors for the third time. Reigning GPAC champion Taylor Anema placed 15th in 19:40 and is now a two-time all-conference recipient.

Morningside produced a top-heavy lineup, with senior Emalee Fundermann taking third place in 19:06.34, junior Kristine Honomichl fifth in 19:15.08 and senior Jo McKibben sixth in 19:19.63. Fundermann, from Anthon, earned her third all-conference award. Honomichl and McKibben earned their second all-conference efforts. McKibben is from Mapleton. All three qualified for nationals.

Also making it to Washington will be senior Morgan Marker of Northwestern College. Marker, a former Rock Valley prep, was ninth in 19:25. Her teammate, Katlyn Wiese, was 13th in 19:35 to earn honorable mention all-conference honors. Wiese is a former Ridge View of Holstein prep.

St. Ambrose's Nolan Rudd and Matt Jung punched their tickets to NAIA nationals with top finishes at the CCAC Championships in Bourbonnais, Ill. on Saturday. Rudd was runner-up in the 8K race in 25:18 while Jung and George Barton, a junior and former Dubuque Wahlert prep, finished 15th (26:43) and 16th (26:45), respectively. For Jung, it is his fourth trip to nationals. They helped the Bees finish third, tying their program's best finish in the CCAC.

Former Iowa Central runner Noah Friske finished fourth overall for No. 1-ranked and team champion St. Francis (Ill.) after running 25:42.

Former Cedar Falls standout Caroline Cunningham produced an all-region performance for Northwest Missouri State at the NCAA Division II Central Region Championship held in Joplin, Mo., on Saturday. Cunningham's time of 21:06.73 over the 6K course is second-ranked in school history. However, she was not selected for Division II nationals.

Making it to nationals will be Center Point-Urbana grad Myles Bach. Bach helped Nebraska-Kearney finish fourth with 171 points in the team competition in Joplin. Bach, a redshirt freshman, led the Lopers with a 17th-place finish in 30:18.29 for 10 kilometers.

Former Iowa Central athlete Lilian Busienei of Central Missouri was 54th in 22:18.37. Nebraska-Kearney's Maddie Bach, a redshirt senior and former Marion prep, was 55th in 22:21.22. Minnesota State had two Iowans finish well. Junior Mackenzie Gaherty, from Dubuque, was 65th in 22:31.99 and freshman Ashlin Young, from Algona, was 68th in 22:37.06.

At the NCAA Division II South Central Regional in Lubbock, Texas, both West Texas A&M teams punched their tickets to nationals. Former Tritons Florance Uwajeneza and Eleonora Curtabbi led the No. 25 Lady Buffs to their highest team finish, seventh, in program history at the meet. Uwajeneza became the first runner in program history to finish in the top five, finishing 3rd in the 6K race in 20:34.40. Curtabbi, a sophomore finished sixth overall in 20:56.2 to also earn all-region honors.

On the men's side, former Iowa Central runner Ezekiel Kipchirchir was the top finisher for the Buffs. The senior ran the 10K in 31:05.4 to place 24th as an individual. Lone Star Conference champion Innocent Murwanashyaka, the brother of Uwajeneza and also a former Triton, was 27th in 31:14.58. Former Iowa Central runner Noah Bundrock also was 44th for the Buffs in 31:41.68.

Finally, returning to the roads, where former Johnston High and Iowa Central standout Tyson Wieland captured the 5K title at the Hillbilly Hike in Carlisle on Saturday. Wieland, a Runablaze athlete, shattered the previous course record by running 15:40. The women's champion was Runablaze's Jordan Winke of Iowa City in 18:48, 1:07 ahead of Des Moines' Briana Berryhill.

New Runablaze athlete Tyler Lance of Algona was the 10K winner by 6:29 after running 32:16. Angela Chaney made it four titles for the Runablaze team by taking the women's half marathon title in 1:21:59. Chaney, a former Norwalk and Central College runner now living in Bloomfield, was fourth overall.

New Running Wild member Isaac Trostle was the overall winner at the Miner 49er 25K in Dubuque. His time of 1:51:03 was a new course record by 18 minutes.

GOING BACK

Two former Mid-Prairie preps helped lead the No. 24 Liberty University women's cross country team to consecutive Atlantic Sun titles on Oct. 30 at the ESPN Wide World of Sports complex in Orlando, Fla. Anna Hostetler grabbed first-team all-conference honors with a sixth-place finish in 17:17.1. Her younger sister, Marie, was 21st in 17:59.2 over the 5K course. Liberty, coached by former Charles City great Isaac Wendland, defeated Lipscomb by 12 points, 36-48.

MISSING A TOP DISTANCE RUNNER OR TRIATHLETE?: Let me know at bergeson@registermedia.com.

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This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Mile posts: Items on Annie Frisbie, Obsie Birru, Andrew Jordan, Biya Simbassa, Brogan Austin, Trevor Albert, Morgan Lawson