Mile posts: Items on Cebastian Gentil, Rivaldo Marshall, Austin Lietz, Mallory King, Caroline Cunningham, Payton Mauldin

Iowa State University hosted the first of three indoor meets on Friday and Saturday and the host Cyclones didn't disappoint the home fans in the middle distance events.

Cebastian Gentil ran the fourth-fastest time in the 800 meters in school history indoors, coming through with an effort of 1 minute, 47.69 seconds during the second day of the ISU Holiday Invitational at the Lied Center. Gentil's time also puts him atop the NCAA list through two weeks of the season and the senior from Miami, Fla., leads off this edition of the WEEKEND UPDATE of the best performances by Iowa-based collegiate and postcollegiate distance runners and triathletes.

Gentil's teammate, Darius Kipyego, also excelled around 2 2/3 laps around the 300-meter track. Kipyego, a sophomore, recorded the sixth-fastest time in Cyclone history, 1:48.09, to take runner-up honors in the very competitive race. That time puts him in the top-five nationally. Cyclone junior Peter Smith was just .22 behind Kipyego in third place in 1:48.31. That time is ninth-fastest in Iowa State history indoors.

Indian Hills sophomore Rivaldo Marshall showed he will be force on the National Junior College Athletic Association circuit this season when the sophomore from Kingston, Jamaica, set an NJCAA all-conditions record of 1:48.46 to place fourth. Marshall took .07 off the previous national record. He is the defending national champion in the 800 meters and owns Indian Hills school records in the indoor and outdoor 800.

"Rivaldo's performance today was incredibly special," Indian Hills coach Brent Ewing said in a school press release. "He's been a completely different athlete since he won the national title last spring. Rivaldo entered this fall with a much more confident mentality. The level he has been training at is jaw-dropping – I've never seen anything like it."

True freshman and fellow Jamaican Tyrice Taylor also produced a highlight for the Warriors by finishing fifth in 1:49.80. That time by Taylor, who ran the fourth-fastest time in school history last week, is the No. 5 all-conditions time in NJCAA history.

Iowa State junior Tyler Carreon also ran a strong 1:50.61 time to place sixth. Then it was freshman Mohammed Al-Yafaee crossing in eighth place in 1:51.07. That time is the 16th-best all-conditions 800 in NJCAA history.

True freshman Ernie Mattson picked up a victory in his college debut, with the native St. Paul, Minn., running 4:08.46 to edge fellow Iowa State freshmen Emanuel Galdino at the line by just .01 of a second. Galdino, from Houston, ran 4:08.47, with fellow Cyclone freshman Daniel Romary of Lincoln, Neb., in third in 4:10.58.

Drake University sophomore Enzo Marie placed fourth in 4:12.09, with graduate student and former Nebraska-Kearney athlete Seth Simonson taking fifth in 4:12.41. Iowa State freshman Aidan Manning was the final runner under 4:20, running 4:19.80 for eighth.

Indian Hills had a winner in the middle distance events with sophomore Roneldo Rock. Rock, from St. Joseph, Barbados, ran 1:13.47 in the 600-yard run to top teammate Dean Clarke by almost two seconds. Clarke, from Kingston, Jamaica, ran 1:15.32 for runner-up honors.

Iowa State true freshman Kinsey Christianson of Castle Pines, Colo., was a winner in the women's 1,000 meters in a fine 2:50.22. She was 4.70 seconds ahead of Indian Hills 2021 NJCAA 800-meter indoor national champion Aliyah Simmons. Simmons was running unattached Saturday.

Iowa State sophomore Taylor Briggs, from Chapman, Kan., was the women's mile winner in 5:00.04. Briggs won by more than 19 seconds.

The University of Iowa hosted the Jimmy Grant Invitational on Saturday and former Hawkeye athlete Austin Lietz set a new 600-meter meet record in a winning time of 1:16.95. Lietz, competing for the Goldfinch Track team, took .49 off Jenoah Mckiver's effort from a year ago. Lietz, originally from Sherman Oaks, Calif., won by 1.22 seconds over a runner from Wisconsin. Iowa junior Spencer Gudgel placed third in 1:18.22, with true freshman Ryan Schreiner fourth in 1:18.32.

Another former Hawkeye star, Mallory King, took the victory and broke her own 600-meter Premier meet record. The former Davenport Assumption prep was timed in 1:29.30 to dust off her effort of 1:31.05 from 2019. King had to hold off former Wisconsin runner Aliyann Dorn for the win. Dorn, a junior at Iowa now, was just .19 of a second behind King after running the sixth-best time in Iowa history. Iowa freshman and former Cedar Rapids Prairie prep Gabby Cortez placed third in 1:31.53. Former Ottumwa High runner Grace Bookin-Nosbisch of Iowa ran a new best of 1:33.06 for fourth and was followed by junior Katie Moore in a new personal-best effort of 1:33.89. Bookin-Nosbisch is a sophomore.

Her sister, Alli Bookin-Nosbisch, cruised to the victory in the women's 1 mile Premier race in a new meet record of 4:48.25. The sophomore took nearly five seconds off the previous best for this meet by Illinois State's Grace Beattie in 2018. Iowa sophomore Clare Pitcher took runner-up honors in 4:59.37.

Sophomore Aidan King, an Iowa sophomore but running unattached, placed runner-up in the men's 1 mile Premier race in 4:19.76. King was just 1.26 seconds behind winner Logan Lommel of Western Illinois. Sophomore Ian Geisler was third in 4:20.80, with teammate and former Johnston High athlete and Des Moines native Yohanna Yual .01 of a second back in fourth in 4:20.81.

In NCAA Division II, Northwest Missouri State's Caroline Cunningham set the school and meet record in the indoor 5,000 meters while taking the title at her home track at the Mel Tjeerdsma Classic in Maryville. The senior and former Cedar Falls High prep standout ran 16:52.48, which is an NCAA Division II nationals provisional mark, to win by 8.42 seconds. Cunningham now owns every indoor and outdoor women's track mark at Northwest.

In the women's 600-yard run, former Indianola prep Bailey Blake of Northwest Missouri ran 1:24.81 to finish fourth. The Bearcats sophomore was among four women to break the meet record. That time by Blake also is No. 5 on the school's all-time list.

A select group of runners for Loras College went to St. Ambrose University's Finals Week Invitational on Saturday. Former Cedar Rapids Prairie prep and NCAA Division III national champion Mike Jasa made his season debut a strong one, winning the 800 meters in 1:50.33. Jasa, a Duhawks senior, topped fellow senior Carter Oberfoell by 1.64 seconds. Oberfoell is a former Dubuque Wahlert prep.

The Osterberger twin sisters, Ellie and Kaylee, took the top two spots in the women's 3,000. Ellie, a senior, was the winner in 10:17.18. Kaylee, a graduate student academically, was another 10 seconds back in 10:27.62. Both are former Dubuque Wahlert preps. Ellie's time is fourth-best in program history. Kaylee's checks in at No. 7 on the Duhawks' all-time list.

Dordt College junior Payton Mauldin punched his tickets to NAIA indoor nationals in a second event at the Concordia Early Bird meet in Seward, Neb. The former George-Little Rock High athlete won the 600 meters in a new facility record 1:19.1 to take the fastest time in the NAIA so far. The previous Concordia Fieldhouse record had been 1:20.04 set by 2012 by Doane's Edwin Ronoh. Just a week before, Mauldin won an 800-meter race at South Dakota State in 1:51.86 to earn the 'A' standard for nationals in that event.

In the women's 600 meters, Dordt sophomore Emilee Heynen earned the 'A' standard for nationals by .01 of a second with a winning time of 1:37.29. Heynen was not far off the meet record of 1:36.52 set by teammate Mike Kooistra in 2020. Heynen is from Sioux Center. Northwestern College senior Abigail Clarke was runner-up in 1:38.04.

Shifting to cross country, where the final three races of the USATF Club Cross Country Championships in San Francisco needed a course change and 30-minute delay after a large tree fell on part of the course during a driving rain with strong winds. The races affected included the open men's and women's races. Instead, the athletes ran around a modified 1,200-meter polo field that was a bit short of the expected 10K distance.

Finishing as the top Iowan was Runablaze Iowa's Cody Baele in 53rd place overall in 28:28. Baele is from Des Moines and the reigning Capital Pursuit 10-mile champion. Former Wartburg College multi-time American Rivers Conference champion Joe Freiburger of the Bowerman Track Club A team was 68th in 28:41.8. Freiburger, a former Western Dubuque prep, now lives in the Portland, Ore., area. Another former Wartburg standout, Caleb Appleton, was 108th for Runablaze in 29:14.2. Appleton is from Des Moines. Former Runablaze athlete Ryan Root of the Roots Running Project A team was 110th in 29:15.0. Kallin Carolus Khan of Iowa City was the No. 3 runner for Runablaze in 151st place in 29:47.6. Former Drake athlete Ben Jaskowiak of Runablaze finished 183rd in 30:14.7. The final scorer for Runablaze was former Johnston High and Iowa Central standout Tyson Wieland of Des Moines in 212th place in 30:40.6. Runablaze also had Zachary Katzman of Waukee in 225th place in 30:52.5 and Dan Iselin, a former Luther College athlete, in 226th in 30:55.4. Runablaze finished 18th overall with 543 points, just ahead of rival LRC Nebraska's 578.

The Crown Running team based out of Dubuque finished 35th in its Club nationals debut. Crown's top runner was Michael Eyres in 231st place in 31:01. Kyle Pape was 259th in 31:25, with Noah Forrey 278th in 31:38 and Preston Kauder 279th in 31:39. Eyres is a former Luther College runner. Pape is a former Central College and Dubuque Wahlert athlete. Forrey is a former University of Dubuque runner. Kauder is a former Loras and Cascade High athlete.

Olympian and former NCAA champion Cole Hocker was the overall winner in 26:28.0. The Hansons-Brooks Distance Project in Rochester, Mich., was the overall team winner with 62 points.

Jessica Hruska of the Crown Running team finished fourth overall out of 243 runners in the women's masters 6K race on an unaltered course. The former Wartburg College and Dubuque Hempstead standout now residing in Dubuque ran 22:39.8 for the 3.7-mile distance. The winner was Meriah Earle of the San Diego Track Club in 22:14.1.

NOTE: This blog will return in January of 2023.

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

Want to hear more about distance running in Iowa. Listen to my podcast here: https://anchor.fm/lance-bergeson8

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Mile posts: Items on Cebastian Gentil, Rivaldo Marshall, Austin Lietz, Mallory King, Caroline Cunningham, Payton Mauldin, Cody Baele