Mile posts: Items on Loras women and Kassie Parker, Wartburg distance medley and Aubrie Fisher, Jenoah Mciver, Isaac Basten

They came, they saw, they conquered.

The Loras College women's track and field team, making a return to the NCAA Division III indoor championships for the first time since 2019, pulled away with titles in the 3,000 meters and 4x400 relay to capture its first indoor title in school history.

The Duhawks were paced by two Iowans, senior Kassie Parker of Guttenberg and junior Alyssa Pfadenhauer of West Burlington, on the way to scoring 59 points and topping Wisconsin-La Crosse by 15 at the JDL Fast Track in Winston-Salem, N.C., on Saturday.

Leading off this edition of the WEEKEND UPDATE of the best performances by Iowa-based collegiate and postcollegiate distance runners and triathletes is Parker, who captured the 5,000-meter title Friday, nearly led Loras to the title of the distance medley relay later that day and then held off Ari Marks of Wellesley College for the second time on the weekend to clinch the team title in the 3,000 meters.

Parker, the reigning NCAA cross country champion, claimed her first indoor championship Friday after the first duel with Marks. Parker led most of the race until Marks claimed the lead with 800 meters to go. Parker charged past Marks in a championship record time of 16 minutes, 15.06 seconds. Marks ran 16:19.20. The previous championship mark was 16:28.15.

An hour later, Loras and American Rivers Conference rival Wartburg College dueled in one of the best races of the weekend. Wartburg's Ellie Meyer, Taylan Olson and Carson McSorley gave anchor Aubrie Fisher the lead going into the final mile leg. Loras was in 10th place after legs by Ellie Osterberger and Merryl Green. Pfadenhauer, normally a sprinter and 400-meter runner, showed her versatility by running a 2:09.47 split in the 800 meters to bring Loras from 10th to third place.

Fisher and Parker, as they have so often done in their college careers, battled it out before Fisher, a former AGWSR (Ackley) prep, held on for the win in 11:41.85. Parker finished .50 of a second back. Wartburg owned the top qualifying time, 11:40.13, coming in while Loras was 10th at 11:53.66.

Meyer is a freshman from Iowa Falls, Olson a junior and former Des Moines Hoover prep and McSorley a junior from New London. For Loras, Osterberger is a junior from Dubuque and Green a junior from Iowa City.

When Parker stepped to the starting line of the 3,000 final, No. 2-ranked Loras and No. 1 La Crosse were deadlocked at 39 points. Parker controlled a slow pace from the front. When the pace quickened, Parker continued to hold off Marks and others. Marks tried to make a move on the final lap, but Parker was ready for the challenge, holding her and St. Benedict's Fiona Smith to capture the victory in 9:43.81. Marks ran 9:44.87. Parker's win sealed a tie for the team title.

Loras' Stevie Lambe, Elayna Bahl, Marion Edwards and Pfadenhauer then put the icing on the cake by capturing the 4x400 title in 3:46.45, 1.18 seconds ahead of SUNY Geneseo. That time is fifth best in NCAA Division III history. Senior Lambe is a former Dubuque Senior athlete, Bahl is a senior and former Western Dubuque prep and Edwards is a senior from Chicago.

Loras entered nationals with 10 entries and the Duhawks scored in seven of those events. Pfadenhauer had a meet to remember by winning the 400 meters by .02 of a second over Concordia (Ill.) runner Kayla Armstrong after running 55.52.

Loras junior Grace Alley also placed third nationally in the triple jump with a distance of 12.03 meters and sixth in the pentathlon with 3,520 points. Edwards also was seventh in the 60 final in 7.69.

The Wartburg women finished sixth as a team nationally on the strength of sophomore Breya Christopher's runner-up honors in the high jump in 1.73 meters and a fourth from former Dubuque Wahlert prep and senior Jackie Ganshirt in the 400 meters in 57.10. Junior Riley Mayer, a former Fort Dodge St. Edmond prep, just missed All-American honors and scoring a point after placing ninth in the 5,000 in 17:11.76. Fisher placed 13th in the 3,000 meters in 10:01.15.

The University of Dubuque also had a national champion when Kaitlyn Wilder, a sophomore from Dunkerton, won her first national championship with a distance of 19.28 meters in the weight throw. Teammate and senior Caroline Ferguson also earned All-American honors by placing sixth in the weight throw with 17.88 meters. Buena Vista senior Rebecca Simpson also was All-American in seventh with a throw of 17.66 meters.

The men's team battle came down to a four-team battle between No. 5-ranked Wisconsin-Eau Claire, No. 16 Washington U., No. 4 Williams and No. 3 Loras. Eau Claire and Washington tied for the team title with 35 points, with Williams (32) and Loras (30) next. Getting the Duhawks onto the podium at nationals for the first time since 1989 were seniors Ryan Rogers, sophomore Ryan Harvey and senior Mike Jasa.

Rogers, a former Dubuque Wahlert prep, captured the program's first heptathlon national title with a school-record 5,484 points.

The Duhawks' distance medley relay title also earned All-American honors in third place in 9:56.89. That time is second best in team history. Running legs were senior Wyatt Kelly (1,200), junior Nate Sielaff (400), junior Carter Oberfoell (800) and freshman Ryan Harvey. Kelly is a former Hudson prep and Oberfoell is a former Dubuque Wahlert prep.

The mile final was a tight battle as expected, with Wartburg's Christopher Collet and Harvey battling for a national title. Harvey broke his own school record for the third time this season after running 4:07.24 to place fourth. Collet was one place ahead in third in 4:07.06 to earn the best finish for the Wartburg men. The winner was Williams' Ryan Aidan in 4:05.60.

Jasa couldn't match his 2021 outdoor 800-meter title in the final Saturday, hanging on for fourth place in 1:52.78. Jasa is a former Cedar Rapids Prairie prep. The winning time was 1:50.92 by MIT's Ryan Wilson.

Jasa added another podium finish for the Duhawks in the 800-meter run, running 1:52.78 to place fourth, before he anchored the 4-by-400-meter relay team of Josh Smith, Ted Kruse and Oberfoell to fifth place in 3:17.77.

The Wartburg men came in ranked second nationally but finished 17th in the team race and were hurt by an apparent injury to star senior Dallas Wright. The senior from Carlisle had to pull out of the finals of the 200 and 400 Saturday after placing eighth in the 60 hurdles final in 9.27 seconds. Freshman Deyton Love, a former Waterloo West prep, was fourth in that final in 8.06 seconds.

The Knights' Joe Freiburger finished eighth in the 5,000 final in 14:24.28 to earn All-American honors. Freiburger is a former Western Dubuque prep from Holy Cross.

Central College's distance medley relay of junior Adam Sylvia, senior Carter Tryon of Winterset, sophomore Noah Jorgenson from Sidney and senior Will DeHaan, a former Central DeWitt standout, was eighth in 10:01.83. Central senior Brock Lewis also was fourth Friday in the long jump with a leap of 23 feet, 10 inches.

Dutch high jumper Sam Beatty, a junior from Mount Pleasant, also earned All-American honors with a tie for eighth with a clearance of 6 feet, 6.75 inches.

Dubuque junior JoJo Frost earned All-American honors with a third place in the 400 final in 48.86 and he also anchored the Spartans' 4x400 relay that was seventh in 3:20.18. Frost is a former Center Point-Urbana prep.

University of Iowa freshman Jenoah McKiver finished a fantastic debut season by taking runner-up honors in the 400 meters at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Birmingham, Ala., on Saturday. McKiver ran 45.65 seconds to lead a trio of Hawkeyes earning first-team All-American honors. Freshman Chadrick Richards was sixth (46.26) and junior Wayne Lawrence Jr. seventh (46.50) inn the finals. McKiver was the Big Ten champion in the 600 meters. For Lawrence, this was his fifth All-American honor of his career.

Former Davenport Assumption prep Mallory King ended her Hawkeye career with an All-American performance in the 4x400 relay. The quartet of junior Mariel Bruxvoort, freshman Tesa Roberts, junior Payton Wensel and King finished in eighth place in 3:35.03. Wensel is a former Linn-Mar of Marion prep. Iowa had never before had an All-American relay in the 4x400.

“I’m so proud of all of those women,” Iowa director of track and field Joey Woody said. “This is a very fitting way for Mallory to go out after a great career as a Hawkeye. She’s meant so much to this team and I’m so happy to see her go out as an All-American.”

Iowa senior Tyler Lienau also earned All-American honors in the weight throw Friday with a toss of 22.08 meters to place eighth. Lienau is a native of Jesup. Iowa finished tied for 18th in the team race with 14 points.

Drake University sophomore Isaac Basten became an All-American for the second time when he placed fifth in the men's mile final at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships in Birmingham, Ala., on Saturday. Basten, who ran from the back most of the race, moved past several runners on the final lap and finished with a gutsy effort in 4:07.72. Ole Miss junior Mario Garcia Romo was the winner in 4:07.54 and led a pack of six runners who broke 4:08 in the race. Basten also was All-American in the 2021 NCAA outdoor championships after placing 12th in the 1,500 meters. Basten qualified for the final with the third-best time in Heat 1 and overall of 3:57.25 Friday.

Teammate Adam Fogg, who was fourth at indoor nationals a year ago, settled for second-team All-American honors after being the last time after placing seventh in Heat 1 in 4:01.85 and not advancing to the final.

The Iowa State distance medley relay entered the finals at the Birmingham CrossPlex with only the 11th-best qualifying time. And it didn't appear hopeful for the Cyclones when lead 1,200 runner and junior Jason Gomez handed off to senior Frank Hayes with Iowa State in 11th. After Hayes' 400 leg and the 800 of senior Alex Lomong, the Cyclones were still in 10th place.

The pace slowed considerably among the lead pack, allowing mile anchor Nehemia Too to catch up to the back of the pack. He couldn't keep up with the lead five teams when the pace quickened, but the junior held on for sixth place in 9:28.62 to help the Cyclones earn first-team All-American honors. Texas, which won the national team championship, was the winner in 9:25.20.

Iowa State junior Wesley Kiptoo had hopes of a repeat national championship in the 5,000 final Friday, but Kiptoo fell back after setting a quick pace in the first mile. He ran his opening 800 meters in 2:01.83 before falling back when he knew his chances of a top-five finish were over. He was 12th in 13:41.71. Northern Arizona sophomore Abdihamid Nur was the champion in 13:19.01.

Nur also captured the national title in the 3,000 final Saturday in 7:59.88, a race where Kiptoo finished 13th in 8:05.53.

Shifting to triathlon, where the Americas Triathlon Cup Sarasota-Bradenton Super Cup was held in chilly conditions in Florida. Former Johnston High and Iowa Central Community College runner Tyson Wieland was 38th among the men's pros in 32:53.0. Former Central College athlete Mark Fairley of Dubuque was 43rd in 33:58.8. Ian Hoover-Grinde, a Cedar Rapids native who ran for Coe College and now lives in Florida, was 45th in 34:28.0. The winning time was Richard Murray's 29:14.1.

Turning now to road racing and the Corridor Running Shamrock Shuffle Saturday, where Running Wild Elite's Nathan Hopp, 39, of Cedar Rapids took the victory in the 6.34-kilometer race in 21:44. Hopp averaged 5:31 per mile to win by 1:01.

RWE's Tanner Osing and Kasey Zielinski took the individual victories at the CASI St. Patrick's Day Race in Davenport on Saturday. Osing ran 15:59 to win by 1:43. Zielinski claimed the women's title in 19:36.

GOING BACK: Fairley finished 11th in the men's pro field at Clermont Draft Legal Elite Super Sprint Cup race in Florida on March 5. Fairley was clocked in 28:45.6, about 1:34 behind winner Daniel Dixon of Great Britain. Hoover-Grinde was 19th in 30:07.6. Fairley also was eighth among the men in the Clermont Draft Legal National Triathlon Development race on March 6. Fairley finished the sprint event in 59:25.7. The winning time was 56:51.

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 Loras women and Kassie Parker, Wartburg distance medley and Aubrie Fisher, Jenoah Mciver, Isaac Basten