Mile posts: Items on Nick Trattner, Max Murphy, Jess Smith, Tyler Jermann, Caroline McMartin, Aspel Kiprob, Sarah Bakula

The University of Iowa teams wanted to get a look at the U-M Golf Course they would race on for the Big Ten Championships in Ann Arbor, Mich., later this fall.

Nick Trattner and Max Murphy showed they are ready to serve as leaders for the Hawkeyes, with the senior Trattner finishing eighth overall in the 6-kilometer race in a new personal-best time of 18 minutes, 18.3 seconds. Murphy, a junior and former Pleasant Valley standout, lost the sprint to his teammate, coming up ninth in 18:19.1. Both were making their season debuts and lead off this edition of the WEEKEND UPDATE of the best performances by Iowa-based collegiate and postcollegiate distance runners and triathletes.

Hawkeye sophomore Ian Geisler took 20th overall and 15th among scoring runners in a new best time of 18:39.2. Jack Pendergast, a former Cedar Rapids Prairie prep, ended up 24th overall in 18:43.5, which was a new best for the junior. True freshman Miles Sheppard, who is from Waukee but went to Warsaw High School in Illinois, continued to impress with a 36th-place finish in 18:53.7. Konnor Sommer, a senior and former Pleasant Valley standout, was 38th in a new personal-best time of 18:59.2 as the Iowa finished third in the team race with 75 points. Host Michigan was the champion with 22 points, followed by Michigan State with 57.

As she did at the Hawkeye Invite, Emma Gordon paced the Iowa women in the 6K race. Gordon, the winner at home in the 4K race on Sept. 2, finished 16th in 21:44.5. Gordon is a senior and former Ankeny Centennial prep. Junior Kelli Tosic was again the No. 2 runner for the Hawkeyes in 32nd place in 22:20.5. Tosic was followed right behind by true freshman Jalyssa Blazek in 33rd place in 22:44.1. Blazek is a former Turkey Valley prep from Lawler. Maddie Block (41st, 22:48.0) and Brooke McKee (45th, 22:51.9) rounded out the Hawkeye scorers. Block, a senior and former Linn-Mar prep, ran a new personal best in 22:48.0. McKee is a junior who ran for Johnston. The Hawkeye women were sixth out of six teams with 147 points.

Turning now briefly to triathlon, where Jess Smith of Clive overcame what she called the worst conditions of any Ironman she has competed in to place runner-up among the professional women at Ironman Wisconsin in Madison on Sunday. Smith, 40, grabbed a career-best second in any Ironman competition, topping a pair of thirds from Ironman Coeur D'Alene in 2014 and Ironman Vineman in 2016.

Smith and eventual winner Chloe Lane of Australia battled through the first two legs, the 2.4-mile swim and 112-mile bike in very wet conditions, before Lane opened up a three-minute lead about a third of the way through the 26.2-mile run. Lane continued to extend the gap to claim the win in 9:45:21. Smith was eight minutes back in 9:53:32.

"Soo much more to say but for now I just want to say thank you sooo much to all my family and friends," Smith wrote on Instagram. "I felt the love all day and it really kept me going in the worst (by far) conditions of any Ironman I have ever raced."

Now on to road racing, where former Iowa State athlete Tyler Jermann, 30, set a new course record in winning the City of Lakes Half Marathon in 1:04:30. The Minnesota Distance Elite athlete averaged 4:55 per mile to win by 2:23 over former MDE teammate Daniel Docherty. Jermann's best time for the 13.1-mile distance is 1:02:52.

Back to cross country, where Central College junior Caroline McMartin was a winner in the soggy seven-team Les Duke Invitational in Grinnell on Saturday. The former Pella High standout topped 92 other runners in taking the 6K title in 22:53.8 on a wet morning as the Dutch captured the team title with 47 points, six ahead of NCAA Division II Truman State.

Addison Parrott, a sophomore from Danville, took sixth in 23:47.6, followed by senior teammate Hailey Hill in 11th in a career-best 24:11.2. The final scorers for Central were freshman Peyton Steffen in 13th in 24:28.4 and freshman Leah Bontragger in 16th in 24:40.7. Steffen ran for Marion while Bontragger is from Wellman and attended Hillcrest Academy.

"I think our women are believing they can accomplish great things and there's no better way for them to see that than to just go out and execute like they did today," Central coach Joe Dunham said in a school press release.

Wartburg College rested several of its top runners, giving a chance for runners such as Haley Meyer to run varsity. Meyer ran well, finished runner-up to McMartin in 23:18.8. Meyer is a former Kee athlete who is from New Albin. Briellee Ruch, a sophomore and former Urbandale prep, grabbed 15th in 24:40.4, followed by true freshman Madison Prier in 17th in 24:42.9. Prier ran for Marion.

Host Grinnell picked up nice third-place and 10th-place finishes from Keely Miyamoto and Emma Schaefer. Miyamoto, a freshman from Los Angeles, ran 23:36.2 to finish about 17 seconds behind Meyer. Schaefer, a senior from Niwot, Colo., ran 24:08.1.

Former Wartburg standout Caroline Collet, running unattached, took eighth in 23:53.3. Simpson College's Emma Angus, a sophomore and former Dallas Center-Grimes prep, led the Storm with a ninth-place finish in 24:02.5. Teghan Booth, another sophomore and former Valley High product, was 13th in 24:20.4. The top junior college finisher was DMACC sophomore Natalia Segura in 15th in 24:37.4. Segura is also a former Dallas Center-Grimes runner.

The fifth-ranked Wartburg men also sat out several top runners and still came away with the team trophy as champions with 39 points, two ahead of American Rivers Conference rival Central. Lance Sobaski, a freshman from Brighton who ran for Washington, led the Knights in the 8K race in fifth in 25:59.1. Another 2.2 seconds back in sixth was senior teammate Alec Ille. Wartburg freshman Eli Larson was just .03 behind Ille in seventh in 26:01.6. Larson is a freshman and former Center Point-Urbana prep. The final Knights scorers were freshmen Tyler Schermerhorn (10th, 26:07.7) and Shane Erb (11th, 26:11.9). Schermerhorn is a former Ankeny Centennial runner while Erb is a former Marion athlete.

Central's effort was led by junior Noah Jorgenson, third in 25:56.4. Jorgenson, a native of Sydney, chopped more than a minute off his time from a year ago. Teammate Cutler Owens, a fifth-year senior and former Southeast Polk prep, was fourth in a best of 25:58.5 for 8K. Caleb Silver, a leader for the Dutch most of last season, was eighth in 26:04.3. Silver is a former BCLUW of Conrad runner. Kenny Cronin also cracked the top 10 in ninth for the Dutch. Cronin is a former Davis County athlete. The final scorer for Central took 17th.

Simpson College also sat out several top runners and its third-place team effort was led by junior Drew Klein, a former Des Moines Lincoln runner. Klein grabbed runner-up honors in 25:43.7. The winner was Cornell College's Aaron Davidson in 25:36.8. Davison is a fifth-year senior from Fairfax, Calif.

The Luther College men were dominant in their 49th annual All-American Invitational on a soggy course in Decorah. The Norse scored 30 points to easily top the Luther Alumni team by 26 points. Seniors led the way, with Ian Kelly runner-up in 21:30.6 for the 4-mile distance, with former Johnston runner Tom Altier third in 21:34.5. Junior Adam Koller was fifth in 22:10.7, with sophomore Alex Heidorn the final Luther runner in the top 10 in eighth in 22:22.4.

Iowa Central produced the champion for its second consecutive meet, with sophomore Aspel Kiprob taking top honors this time. Kiprob, a Kenya native, overcame the extremely wet conditions to run 20:55.9 and dominate the competition. Freshman teammate Aye Devany, who won at Iowa's meet the previous weekend, overcame a fall to place fourth in 21:35.8. Freshman Ander Julian also made the top 10, taking 10th in 22:22.7. Julian is from New London.

Adam Bohach, a Runablaze Iowa athlete competing for the Luther Alumni, paced that team in sixth in 22:12.9. Bohach is a former South Winneshiek prep who lives in rural Cresco.

Another Runablaze athlete, Sarah Bakula, was the women's 5K champion. Bakula, 34, navigated the wet conditions well enough to grab the victory in 19:05.7. Bakula is a former Waukon prep and Simpson athlete who now hails from Fort Atkinson.

Kimberly Horner of the Luther Alumni team took runner-up position in 19:34.3. Iowa Central's Taylor McCreedy, a sophomore and former Atlantic runner, picked up third in 19:57.7.

The Dordt University cross country teams stepped up in competition against NCAA Division I South Dakota State and Division II Sioux Falls at the Jacks' SDSU Classic at Edgebrook Golf Course in Brookings on Friday. Senior Joe Anderson paced the men's team with a new personal-best time of 25:17.39 for 8K. The former George/Little Rock prep finished fourth overall after chopping about 20 seconds off his best from 2021. Senior teammate Davis Tebben was close behind in sixth place in 25:27.16. Dordt sophomore Aidan Vorster took 14th in 25:48, which represented an improvement of nearly a minute from his previous best for the distance. Peter Shippy was the final Defender in the top 25, taking 25th in 26:16 as the Defenders finished third in the team race with 62 points. Shippy is a senior and former Sioux Center High prep. SDSU was the champion with 28 points and senior Jackson Harrison of Northern State was the champion in 25:01.61.

Graduate student Kristine Honomichl made her Dordt debut and led the women's team in the 5K competition with an 11th-place finish in 19:14. Honomichl previously ran for Morningside College. Lucy Borkowski took 13th place in 19:17, an effort that trimmed 16 seconds faster than her previous best. Borkowski is a former Harlan Community athlete who calls Manilla home. Dordt junior Anika Homan took 27th in 19:47 and senior Taylor Anema was 29th in 19:51. Dordt scored 86 points, with the host Jacks winning with only 21. SDSU junior Leah Hansen was the champion in 18:03.12.

The Mount Mercy women nearly produced a perfect score during the Fighting Bee Invitational at Crow Creek Park in Bettendorf on Saturday. The Mustangs scored 17 points to cruise past runner-up St. Ambrose (78). Deanna Newhouse ensured a repeat individual title for the Mustang program when she crossed the finish line of the 5K race first in 19:15. Newhouse is a graduate student and former Linn-Mar prep. Sophomore teammate J'Lyn Knutson was a distant second in 20:19.0. Knutson is a former Melcher-Dallas prep. Mount Mercy swept the podium when sophomore Jessa Day was third in 20:39. Day is from Ely and a former Cedar Rapids Prairie runner.

Mount Mercy also captured the men's title with 43 points, 12 ahead of St. Ambrose. The top Mustang in the 8K race was runner-up and true freshman Ryan Mitchell in 27:02. Mount Mercy also grabbed a sixth place from junior Oscar Lopez in 27:43.0 and an eighth from sophomore Lukas Lamparek in eighth in 27:57.0. Lamparek is a former Cedar Rapids Jefferson athlete.

Sophomore Luke Benes led St. Ambrose with a fourth-place finish in 27:32.0. Sophomore teammate Will Dowda, a former North Scott athlete, was 10th in 28:11.0.

William Penn showed it is a much-improved program, putting three runners in the top 10. Freshman Max Finley was fifth in 27:42 in his college debut. Sophomore Brandon Williams grabbed seventh in 27:44, followed by Jonah Heckenberg in ninth in 28:06. Heckenberg is a former Van Buren athlete from Stockport. The Statesmen were third in the team race with 70 points.

Former Pleasant Valley High School athlete Parker Huhn finished 19th for the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse at the Concordia University Wisconsin Ken Weidt Classic on Saturday. Huhn ran the 8K distance in 26:59.2. Huhn was the No. 11 runner on the Eagles' roster.

Back to the roads, where Runablaze's Samantha Wingert, 35, of Cedar Falls was the overall and women's champion of the Scott Sterrett Memorial 10K in Waterloo on Saturday. The former Northern Iowa athlete ran 37:09, a 5:59 pace per mile.

Dalton Rice was the overall winner of the Clinton Half Marathon on Sunday. Rice ran 1:13:43 to win by nearly 15 minutes.

Now to trail running, where Erik Bandy was the overall champion of the Pleasant Creek Trail Run in Palo on Saturday. Bandy ran the 15K distance in 1:00:27 to win by 2:45. Andrew Kaehr was the men's 30K winner in 2:00:38. Kaehr won by 11:22. Sasha Gallagher was the women's 45K winner in 3:36:11. Gallagher was second overall.

GOING BACK: Former Iowa Central standouts Florance Uwajeneza and Innocent Murwanashyaka finished in the top three for West Texas A&M at the Big Country Festival in Abilene, Texas, on Sept. 2. Uwajeneza, a senior, was one of only three runners to break 14 minutes on the 4K course, finishing with a new personal-best time of 13:50.7 to place second. Junior teammate and former Triton standout Eleonora Curtabbi, the reigning NCAA Division II steeplechase champion, was fourth in 14:01.9 to help the Buffs finish second with 44 points, three behind champion and Big 12 school TCU. Abilene Christian's Irene Rono was the winner in 13:41.9.

Murwanashyaka was the top Division II men's runner, with the senior running a new best of 18:39.6 for 6K. Murwanashyaka trailed only Tarleton State's Kevin Baez and Texas Tech's Isaac Hernandez. The Buffs won the team title with 47 points, four ahead of Big 12 team Texas Tech.

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 Nick Trattner, Max Murphy, Jess Smith, Tyler Jermann, Caroline McMartin, Aspel Kiprob, Sarah Bakula, Deanna Newhouse