Mile posts: Items on Jason Gomez, Isaac Basten, Adva Cohen, Matt Hanson, Karissa Schweizer, Wesley Kiptoo, Erik Sowinski

Jason Gomez now has a good memory of running at Hayward Field.

The Iowa State junior produced a personal-best time of 1 minute, 46.34 seconds in the 800-meter final at the NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore., on Friday to finish fourth place and earn first-team All-American honors outdoors for the first time. Gomez, for his efforts, leads off this edition of the WEEKEND UPDATE of the best performances by Iowa-based collegiate and postcollegiate distance runners and triathletes last weekend.

Gomez already owned first-team All-American honors indoors when the native of San Jose, Calif., finished fifth in the 800 meters at the NCAA Indoors Championships and when the Cyclones' distance medley relay placed sixth nationally at this year's indoor meet. Gomez ran the opening 1,200 on that relay.

But Gomez had a bad debut at last year's nationals in Eugene, when he did not finish his semifinal heat. He changed that Friday.

Charging from the back, as he did in the semifinals on Wednesday, Gomez steadily picked off runners over the final 300 meters. He passed two runners on the backstretch and then eased past two more runners before holding off Villanova sophomore Sean Dolan by .04 of a second. Gomez's time ranks fifth best in Iowa State history. Moad Zahafi of rival Texas Tech was the national champion in 1:44.49.

Gomez produced an equally impressive effort in the semifinals with the same strategy. In last place out of seven, Gomez roared out to the outside lanes to take the lead by the third turn. Gomez easily held off Texas sophomore Yusuf Bizimana for the heat win in 1:47.02, which tied his best time for the distance.

Gomez's teammate, junior Cebastian Gentil, pulled off the track after 300 meters and didn't finish. Gentil was running in the same heat 1 as Gomez. Gentil still earned All-American honors for the third time, with his previous two coming on a pair of distance medley relays with Iowa State.

The conclusion to the NCAA track and field season also included a third All-American performance by Drake University junior Isaac Basten on Friday. Basten made his big move in the 1,500 final with just over a lap to go. Taking off from lane 3 on the homestretch, Basten charged from almost dead last up to fourth with a lap to go. Basten, running in lane 2 on the backstretch, got up to third place before eventual winner Joe Waskom of Washington surged past him. Basten was still in third place with 100 meters to go when several runners passed him. Basten still finished 10th in 3:46.67, improving two spots from a year ago at nationals.

"I woke up this morning thinking today would be the day I become a champion," Basten, from Buffalo, Minn., said. "With 150 to go I was swallowed up and spit out by nearly the entire field. Looking back on it I don’t think it was the right strategy to go so soon. But I did. And I don’t regret going for the win in that way after an indoor championship where I waited too long. Obviously I’m super down after another devastating loss at nationals, but I know I’m going to put in the work to be back in that moment again. I still know my time will come."

Basten picked up another second-team All-American honor outdoors to go with a first-team honor after placing fifth in the men's mile final at the NCAA indoor meet in Birmingham, Ala., in March.

Basten punched his ticket to the final on Wednesday by letting his semifinal heat come to him. Basten ran in lane 1 the entire final lap, showing patience as runners faded and moved out of his way. He finished third in heat 2 after running 3:39.45.

Former Iowa Central Community College star Adva Cohen earned first-team All-American honors for a second time in the women's 3,000 steeplechase final Saturday. Cohen produced a new personal-best time of 9:35.60 to place eighth and earn the final first-team spot by .2 of a second over Notre Dame's Olivia Markezich. BYU senior Courtney Wayment set a meet record of 9:16.00.

Cohen nearly missed qualifying for the finals Thursday. The senior from Jerusalem and 2021 Tokyo Olympian for that Israel advanced as the 12th and final qualifier. Cohen ran 9:45.18 to place sixth in the first heat and had to sweat it out to to see that her time ended up 2.18 seconds ahead of the 13th-best time run by Michigan's Kayla Windemuller.

The senior also was fourth in the 3,000 steeplechase final in the 2019 NCAA outdoor meet at the University of Texas. Cohen ran 9:46.36 that day. Cohen also earned honorable mention in the 5,000 finals at that same meet.

Former Dowling Catholic star Matthew Carmody finished as a second-team All-American after finishing 16th in the 10,000 final on Wednesday. The junior ran a personal-best 28:34.28 time in a race that was won by his Irish teammate, Dylan Jacobs, in 28:12.32. Carmody was the second-best of four Notre Dame runners in the 10,000.

Iowa State senior Nehemia Too narrowly missed advanced to the 1,500 final Wednesday ater placing seventh in the second of two heats. Too was edged at the finish by Washington's Luke Houser, Michigan State's John Petruno and Northern Arizona's George Kucshe by less than a second after running 3:40.01. Kusche was just .34 ahead of Too, who by virtue of his 13th-place performance earned second-team All-American honors. It is the first outdoor honor for Too, who like Gentil, ran on All-American distance medley relay squads indoors. The junior from Bomet, Kenya finishes the season as the school's record holder in the 1,500 in 3:39.15, set at the NCAA West Preliminaries two weeks earlier.

On Friday, Iowa State senior Ryan Ford produced a memorable final college race by placing 21st in the 5,000 final and earning honorable mention All-American honors for the first time. The UT-Martin transfer and native of Huntsville, Ala., ran 13:50.03 in a race won by Wisconsin senior Olin Hacker in 13:27.73.

Former Storm Lake resident Matt Hanson became a four-time Ironman North American champion at the inaugural Ironman Des Moines race Sunday. The former Buena Vista University athlete and professor held off a late charge on the run from Andre Lopes of Brazil to win in 7:56:48, 2:39 ahead of Lopes.

Hanson struggled in the 90-degree temperatures at the end of the 26.2-mile run. He bent over and then crumpled to the carpet after holding up the winner's banner at Court Avenue.

"I'm not feeling great right now. The heat definitely got to me. It (heat) was what I needed," Hanson said. "I proved I have the bike fitness that I need to have carrying into Kona (Hawaii). Now I have to show the run legs over the final nine miles."

Hanson produced the best 112-bike leg of 4:09:58 to open a 25-second advantage over Tim O'Donnell going into the 26.2-mile run. Hanson said it was only the second time in his professional career that he owned the lead after the second transition.

The Ironman provided mixed results for other Iowa natives. Des Moines' Tyson Wieland, making his full Ironman debut, took advantage of the fifth-best swim leg to finish 12th among the men's pros in 10:38:50. Wieland, a former Johnston High and Iowa Central Community College runner, did struggle during the run portion of the event.

Carson Christen, a former Cedar Rapids Washington and Luther College swimmer who now coaches triathletes in Taiwan, did not finish after dropping out early in the run. Lesley Smith, an Iowa native who finished fifth at the Ironman 70.3 event in Des Moines a year ago, also dropped out after completing at least 20.6 miles of the run. Smith now lives in Boulder, Colo.

Read a full recap of the Ironman Des Moines race here: https://tinyurl.com/mut2kv24

The Portland Track Festival offered one of the last chances to qualify for the U.S. Track and Field Championships June 23-26 in Eugene. For former Dowling Catholic star Karissa Schweizer, who already won the U.S. title in the 10,000 a week ago, it provided an opportunity to drop down in distance.

The native of Urbandale and six-time NCAA champion at Missouri claimed the victory in the women's high performance 1,500 Saturday in a meet record 4:00.75. Schweizer finished 3.51 seconds ahead of Eleanor Fulton and broke the meet record by 1.82 seconds at Lewis & Clark University's Griswold Stadium.

"Happy to be sooo close to that 4 flat barrier once again, but even more hungry to take another shot at it," Schweizer wrote on Instagram.

The night before, former Iowa State NCAA champion Wesley Kiptoo dominated the men's high performance 10,000 race. The HOKA NAZ Elite athlete now based in Flagstaff, Ariz., won by over 18 seconds after finishing in 28:19.87 on a rainy Portland evening. Geoffrey Kipchumba of the Army WCAP team was second in 28:38.25.

Also Friday, former former Iowa Central runner Frankline Tonui of the Peak Running Elite team finished seventh in the 3,000 steeplechase high performance race. Tonui ran 8:34.40. Recent NCAA Division II champion and former Garner-Hayfield-Ventura prep Reece Smith finished 10th in 8:42.07. Smith is a sophomore at Northwest Missouri State. Former Iowa All-Big Ten runner Nathan Mylenek was 16th in 8:48.99. The winning time was John Gay's 8:22.93.

"Beyond grateful for the opportunity to compete with some of the best in the world," Smith wrote on Instagram. "Crazy to think I got to compete with Evan Jager after watching him win a silver medal at the 2016 Olympics. This season has been far better than I could have ever imagined."

Two former Iowa high school preps and collegians competed in the men's high performance 5,000 late Saturday. Biya Simbassa, who ran for Sioux City North and Iowa Central Community College before finishing at Oklahoma, finished 10th in the race in 13:48.29. Simbassa is the reigning USA Running Circuit champion and Under Armour Dark Sky athlete now based in Flagstaff.

Minnesota Distance Elite's Josh Yeager ended up 20th in a season-best 13:52.07 effort. Yeager is a former Center Point-Urbana prep and Drake athlete who finished up at South Dakota State. The winning time was set by Patrick Tiernan in a meet record 13:19.14.

Mylenek turned around Saturday and finished 46th of 72 runners in the men's high performance 1,500. Mylenek ran 3:44.59.

Former Southeast Polk and current Northern Iowa athlete Drake Hanson finished 27th of 30 runners in the 800 high performance race. Hanson, who just finished his sophomore season at Northern Iowa, ran 1:52.16.

Also, Runablaze Iowa's Josh Evans finished runner-up in the men's open 1,500 race. The former Linn-Mar star who ran at the Colorado School of Mines was clocked in 3:50.94. The Ankeny resident trailed only Carlos Hernandez's 3:50.33.

Staying on the track, former Iowa All-American Erik Sowinski finished third at the USATF NYC Grand Prix on Sunday. The Iowa City resident ran a season-best time of 1:45.50 by running a consistent pace through to the finish, topping fellow Americans Clayton Murphy and Isaiah Jewett. Sowinski broke 1:47 for the distance for the 101st time in his career. Fellow American Bryce Hoppel was the winner in 1:45.07.

At the Diamond League event in Rome on Thursday, former Iowa State standout Hillary Bor finished eighth in the men's steeplechase in a season-best 8:12.19. The 2016 and 2021 Olympian in this event trailed winner Lamecha Girma by nearly 13 seconds.

Finishing now with the roads, where former Iowa State All-American Annie Frisbie finished 14th in a deep field of women's pros at the New York Mini 10K on Saturday. The Minnesota Distance Elite athlete ran 32:01. Former Iowa All-American Diane Nukuri finished 31st in 34:17. Nukuri is an Asics runner based in Flagstaff. The winner was Ethiopia's Senbere Teferi in 30:43.

Kylie Cox, 21, of Dubuque was the overall and female winner of the Park Farm Winery Wine Run in Durango on Saturday. Cox ran 19:34.

At the Trestle Hustle Duathlon at the Madrid Trail Head, Evan Huseman, 33, captured the victory by 2:20 after finishing in 1:08:21. The event consisted of a two-mile run, 13-mile bike and two-mile run.

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 Jason Gomez, Isaac Basten, Adva Cohen, Matt Hanson, Karissa Schweizer, Wesley Kiptoo, Erik Sowinski