Mile posts: Items on Hilda Chebet and Iowa Western, Matt Hanson, Biya Simbassa, Festus Lagat, Alexina Teubel, Rivaldo Marshall

The Iowa Western women's track and field team stands alone in NJCAA.

The Reivers captured their first outdoor national championship in Hutchinson, Kan., on Saturday to complete a sweep of the NJCAA indoor and outdoor team titles this academic year. The Reivers also won the 2021 NJCAA indoor championship, but fell short of the title May 11-13, 2021 in Levelland, Texas. That weekend, the Reivers finished in fourth place outdoors nationally with 78 points - three points behind Region XI rival Iowa Central - as host South Plains was the champion with 110.3 points.

But that team didn't have freshmen Hilda Chebet, Miracle Ailes and Antonia Sealy. Chebet doubled her total of national championships to six with dominant victories in the 10,000 meters, 5,000 and 1,500 and leads off this edition of the WEEKEND UPDATE of the best performances by Iowa-based collegiate and postcollegiate distance runners and triathletes last weekend. The native of Trans-Nzoia, Kenya, started her run with a victory in the 10,000 meters late Thursday in 37 minutes, 43.91 seconds at Gowans Stadium. Chebet took charge over the final 2,000 meters to win by over a minute over Cloud County's Lucy Ndungu's 38:44.75. Former North Iowa Area Community College runner Sarah Bertry, now with New Mexico Junior College, was sixth in 40:22.75.

Chebet, the reigning NJCAA indoor national champion in the 5,000 meters, 3,000 meters and mile, followed two days later by holding off Hawkeye Community College freshman Emma Hoins by 2.39 seconds to win the final of the 1,500 meters in 4:47.59. Hoins, a former Waverly-Shell Rock prep headed to Northern Iowa in the fall, earned her second All-American finish of the weekend by taking second.

Chebet had run the second-fastest 1,500 time in the prelims Friday in 4:59.24. Hoins qualified with a 4:59.27, running just behind Chebet in the first heat.

Chebet and teammate Mercy Biwott sealed the national championship for the Reivers when they went 1-2 in the 5,000 in the second-to-last women's event of the meet. Chebet added title No. 3 by running that event in 17:59.92, 10.95 seconds ahead of Biwott.

Chebet followed in the heels of current Toledo runner Faith Linga, who won outdoor titles in the 10,000, 5,000 and was runner-up in the 1,500 meters a year ago.

Ailes was the winner in the long jump, with sophomore teammate Alliyah McNeil in second. McNeil also added a high jump championship. Sealy was the heptathlon champion, while sophomore Victory George was the final individual national champion in the triple jump. Iowa Western scored in 16 events to knock off New Mexico Junior College by 19 points.

Hoins captured her first national championship in the 3,000 steeplechase Friday night in 11:07.37. Hoins pulled away from Garden City's Shareen Cheruiyot, her only competition for the win, over the second half of the race to win by 11.13 seconds.

Indian Hills sophomore Aliyah Simmons, the reigning indoor 800 champion, settled for fourth in that final after running 2:15.48. The winner was Monroe College's Farrah Miller in 2:13.21.

Iowa Central freshman Taylor McCreedy, sophomore Shaunti Longfellow, freshman Britney Brown and freshman Chloe Garcia Grafing finished fourth in the 4x800 relay Thursday. That unit ran 9:40.88. McCreedy is a former Atlantic prep.

Briefly moving to the professionals, where former Storm Lake resident and Buena Vista University athlete Matt Hanson bounced back from a difficult 13th-place effort at the Ironman World Championship at St. George, Utah, two weeks ago to take runner-up honors at the Ironman 70.3 North American Championships in Chattanooga, Tenn., on Sunday.

Hanson was in a large pack of about 10 triathletes after the 56-mile bike leg. American winner Jason West surged away from everyone over the half marathon run, finishing that leg in 1:09:09 to claim the victory in 3:37:15. Hanson, now residing in Castle Rock, Colo., held off Andre Lopes and eventual third-place American athlete Rudy Von Berg on the 13.1-mile run to take second in 3:38:12. Von Berg was another 1:41 back of Hanson.

Hanson covered the 1.2-mile swim in 25:00, only 24 seconds behind West, and then made up the time to West by covering the 56-mile bike in 2:00:36, 16 seconds better than West.

"I felt alright on the run going uphill but the downhill, the quads were still pretty tender from St. George," Hanson told Tri247. "Jason had a great day, so I'm happy to come in second."

Former Johnston High and Iowa Central athlete Tyson Wieland of Des Moines was running near the top 20 when he said he cramped around mile 7 of the run and had to withdraw.

Iowa City native Lesley Smith finished fourth among the women's professional in 4:13:57. Smith, now a Boulder resident, covered the run in 1:17:51, 21 seconds faster than American winner Jackie Hering, to move up after a 28:15 swim and 2:24:26 bike that put her several minutes behind the top pack of Hering, Canada's Paula Findlay and Great Britain's Holly Lawrence.

On to the track, where former North High and Iowa Central star running Biya Simbassa finished fourth overall at the USATF's Distance Classic on Thursday in Walnut, Calif. Simbassa, the Under Armour Dark Sky Distance runner and reigning USA Running Circuit champion ran 13:46.69. Former Center Point-Urbana prep and Drake University athlete Josh Yeager of the Minnesota Distance Elite squad finished ninth in 14:10 in a race won by Ben Flanagan in 13:35.30.

Also Thursday's at Mt. SAC's Hilmer Lodge Stadium, former Triton standout Frankline Tonui finished sixth in the 3,000 steeplechase in 8:28.83, which is a qualifying time for U.S. nationals. Another former Triton, 2016 Olympian Stanley Kebenei, was 14th in 8:36.30.

In the women's 800 meters, former Davenport Assumption and Iowa All-Big Ten runner Mallory King finished second in heat 1 and 10th overall. King ran 2:03.89, with winner Sinclaire Johnson timed in 2:01.06.

At the Trials of Miles Track Night NYC on Friday night in New York, former Iowa State All-American Festus Lagat of the Under Armour/DTC team captured the victory in the 800 meters in 1:45.02. Lagat ran a final lap of 50.94 to easily top Edose Ibadin by 1.27 seconds. Fellow former Cyclone Daniel Nixon, now with the Atlanta Track Club, was seventh in 1:48.75.

Former Northern Iowa and Mount Vernon/Lisbon star Alexina Teubel finished runner-up in her season debut in the 3,000 steeplechase. The current Northern Iowa assistant sponsored by Tracksmith and Runablaze Iowa ran 9:32.81, which was just under her personal-best time of 9:32.69 run at this same event at Icahn Stadium a year ago. The winner was Lizzie Bird, who pulled away from Teubel only in the final 200 meters, in 9:30.57.

Former Iowa All-Big Ten runner Nathan Mylenek of the Very Nice Track Club finished ninth in the men's 3,000 steeplechase in 8:40.03. The winning time was 8:22.95.

Time to finish NJCAA nationals, where Iowa Western was the lone NJCAA program with top-three finishes from both its women and men. The Reiver men finished runner-up in the points standings with 85, 19 behind winner South Plains, to grab their first NJCAA team title either indoors or outdoors. The Reivers gained wins from Cortney Watkins in the 110 hurdles and Shakiel Dacres in the discus.

The Reivers' best performance from their distance runners was a third place from Nicholas Kiprotich in the 10,000 meters late Thursday. The freshman from Eldoret, Kenya, was clocked in 30:40.09 in a race won by Vincent Nchogu of Northwest Kansas in 30:29.23. Indian Hills sophomore Chris Metz, seeded 14th, earned All-American honors with an eighth-place finish in 33:34.43.

Indian Hills claimed the third national championship in their short existence when freshman Rivaldo Marshall triumphed over eight other men in the 800 final Saturday. Marshall ran down two runners coming off the final turn to take the victory in 1:50.82. He was .66 of a second ahead of New Mexico JC's Evans Pololet.

Marshall, from Kingston, Jamaica, ran a final lap of 55.96 seconds to improve on a runner-up finish at NJCAA indoor nationals this year. Marshall, who had the third-best prelim time of 1:53.47 Friday, joins two-time national champion and 2021 Tokyo Olympics 200-meter silver medalist Kenny Bednarek as men's national champions for the Warriors.

Iowa Central placed 14th with 22 points and the Tritons' top performance was a runner-up finish from freshman Yared Kidane in the 1,500 final. The native of Eskilstuna, Sweden, ran 3:57.28 to finish behind only New Mexico JC's Evans Pololet's 3:56.97. Kidane ran the seventh-best time (3:58.01) in prelims.

Kidane led Iowa Central's fourth-place indoor national finish in the distance medley relay and also was seventh in the 600 final and eighth in the 1,000 final this winter. Iowa Western sophomore Yonas Mogos placed fifth in the final to earn one of his two All-American honors. Mogos ran 3:59.07 a day after running 3:57.38 in prelims, which was the third-best time.

NIACC's Melvin Kipkemboi earned a pair of All-American honors over the weekend. The sophomore from Rift Valley, Kenya, finished fourth in his final event, the 5,000 meters, on Saturday in 14:40.97. Kiprotich, of Iowa Western, also earned All-American honors after placing seventh in 14:42.43. Kipkemboi's finish is the highest by a NIACC runner since Wal Khat won the 800 meters in 2017. Sanele Masondo of Colby Community College was the winner in 14:31.61.

Kipkemboi also set a school record by .92 of a second in the 3,000 steeplechase Friday when he placed seventh nationally in 9:29.06. He became the first Trojan to earn All-American distinction in that race. Kipkemboi now has six All-American honors in NCJAA track, with a third in the 5,000 and seventh in the 3,000 coming at the 2021 indoor meet and a sixth in the 10,000 and a seventh in the 5,000 at last year's outdoor meet.

Iowa Central sophomore Hunter Klimek edged teammate Robin Aguilar Gonzalez for eighth place in the steeplechase by .02 of a second. Klimek ran 9:31.11 for the final scoring point.

The Warriors' 4x800 relay of Jerry Harper, Roneldo Rock, Keegan Simms and former Clear Creek Amana prep Nick O'Connor captured fifth place in the 4x800 finals in 7:44.89. Indian Hills finished ninth with 32 points, tying their best finish from 2019.

Iowa Western, with sophomore Wimachmorr Gilo, freshman Deiondre Williams, sophomore Yonas Mogos and redshirt sophomore Samuel Hydro, earned All-American honors by placing seventh in 7:47.41. Gilo is a former Council Bluffs Thomas Jefferson prep.

Iowa Central placed eighth in 7:48.40. Klimek, Cassius Havis, Aguilar Gonzalez and Kidane ran on the relay for the Tritons.

Several Iowa Division III teams took part in last-chance meets to try to either qualify for nationals or improve on their efforts. Wartburg College junior Dalton Martin established a new school record for 800 meters by running 1:50.18 in the Augustana College Midwest Twilight on Thursday in Rock Island, Ill. Martin finished runner-up to Nebraska Wesleyan's Garrett Lenners by .11 of a second after running 1:50.18. Martin broke the mark of 1:50.28 set in 2015. Wartburg junior Wyatt Schmidt, a former Northeast of Preston runner, took third in 1:50.71. Both qualified for nationals with their efforts. Central College freshman Noah Jorgenson, a former Sidney Community Schools athlete, was fifth in 1:51.74. Jorgenson needed to run .41 of a second faster to qualify for nationals.

In the 1,500, Loras College's Wyatt Kelly captured the victory in a personal-best 3:48.24, a time that improved him to No. 3 in program history. That winning time by .82 of a second also made Kelly the last qualifier for nationals in the event. Kelly is a senior from Hudson. Taking fifth place was Loras' Ryan Harvey, already a national qualifier, in 3:52.91.

Wartburg freshman Connor Lancial, a former Council Bluffs Lewis Central runner, grabbed the victory in the 3,000 steeplechase by .3 of a second after running 9:04.29. That is a top-10 time in Knights program history and earned Lancial the seventh-best time for nationals this weekend. Tyler Cernohous, a University of Dubuque junior, took fifth in 9:08.79 while Caleb Silver, a former BCLUW of Conrad prep and Central College freshman, was seventh in 9:13.66. Cernohous earned the final spot at nationals with his 9:08.79 effort.

In the 5,000, Wartburg senior Sam Pinkowski finished runner-up with a 14:55.95 time. Jay Mixdorf, a Knights junior and former Ankeny High product, was fourth in 14:59.99. Freshman teammate Sam Schmitz was another .4 back of Mixdorf in fifth place. Schmitz is a former Johnston High prep.

Another Wartburg freshman, Jacob Green, was a winner in the 10,000 in 31:03.90. Green is a former Cedar Rapids Kennedy prep.

Central's Caroline McMartin already had her ticket to nationals punched in the 3,000 steeplechase. The sophomore from Pella didn't improve on her season-best time, but nonetheless finished runner-up in 11:03.98. Wartburg junior Moriah Morter, a former Muscatine High prep, was third in a new personal-best 11:10.10 time. Taking fifth place was Central sophomore and former Aplington-Parkersburg prep Megan Johnson in 11:18.09.

Wartburg junior Natalie Paulson, a former Dallas Center-Grimes prep, was fourth in the 5,000 meters in 18:01.51.

At La Crosse, Wis., on Wednesday, Loras junior Brianna Renner improved on her school record in the 3,000 steeplechase by running a winning time of 11:03.63. Renner, from West Bend, Wis., missed qualifying for nationals by .28 of a second. Renner topped a Wisconsin-La Crosse runner by 1.25 seconds in the race.

In the men's 5,000, Runablaze's Josh Evans finished fourth overall in 14:58.07. Evans is a former Linn-Mar prep star who ran for the Colorado School of Mines. He lives in Ankeny now.

Finishing now with the roads, where University of Iowa junior Maddie Block captured the women's championship at the Marion Arts Festival half marathon on Saturday. The former Linn-Mar prep ran 1:22:28 to finish fourth overall.

Zach Elbers, a recent all-conference runner for Dordt College in the 3,000 steeplechase, was the overall winner of the Tulip Festival Road Race 10K on Saturday in 34:55. Elbers is a former Western Christian of Hull athlete.

GOING BACK: Former East Marshall and Northwestern College runner Caleb Benzing was the overall winner of Race for Hope 5K in 16:15.65 on May 14 at Water Works Park in Des Moines.

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 Hilda Chebet and Iowa Western, Matt Hanson, Biya Simbassa, Festus Lagat, Alexina Teubel, Rivaldo Marshall