Mile posts: Items on Wesley Kiptoo, Gable Sieperda, Anna Hostetler, Matt Hanson, Oksana Johnson, Eric Steiger, Caroline Cunningham
It's becoming clear that Wesley Kiptoo is a big fan of running indoors.
The recent runner-up at the NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships opened his indoor season with Iowa State by running the third-fastest time in NCAA history for 5,000 meters in Boston on Saturday. Kiptoo, the defending NCAA indoor champion for 5K, reset his school record with an effort of 13 minutes, 14.74 seconds at the at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener at the BU Track & Tennis Center and leads off this edition of the WEEKEND UPDATE of the best performances by Iowa-based collegiate and postcollegiate distance runners.
Kiptoo was bested by only former Wisconsin star Olli Hoare (13:09.96) and former Northern Arizona All-American Geordie Beamish (13:12.53). Kiptoo's time is the fastest run at the NCAA level since Arizona's Lawi Lalang (13:08.28) and Stephen Sambu (13:13.74) ran their times at the 2012 Millrose Games in New York City. Kiptoo is the eighth man in NCAA history to break 13:20 for 5K.
In that same race, former Cyclone All-American runner Andrew Jordan finished 10th in 13:28.10. Jordan was running for Georgetown in his final collegiate season of eligibility. That time is 19th-best in NCAA history.
Two other runners with Iowa ties fared well at Boston. Former Iowa Central Community College star Adva Cohen finished sixth in a women's 5,000 meters in 15:33.00. Cohen is a senior at New Mexico.
Also, former Cyclone All-American Dan Curts, running for the professional Northwoods Athletics team, took seventh in the 3,000 meters in 8:02.41.
More current Cyclones landed in the Iowa State record books at the Woo Pig Classic at the Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark., on Friday. Gable Sieperda jumped into No. 5 all-time in Cyclone history for 5,000 meters after running 13:44.75 and finishing fourth overall. Sieperda is a former Central Lyon/G-LR prep. Former Gilbert High star Thomas Pollard, who last month earned his first All-American honor at NCAA nationals in 21st place, finished fifth in 13:45.34. That time lands Pollard in seventh all-time in school history. Eighth-place Chad Johnson (13:57.25) and ninth-place Ezekiel Rop (13:58.62) jumped into ninth and 10th in the Iowa State record books for that distance. The highest Iowa State student, however, was third-place Ryan Ford, who was competing unattached. The UT-Martin transfer finished third in 13:44.30.
Iowa State finished 2-3-4-5 in the men's 1,000 meters, with Jason Gomez leading the way with a 2:21.02. That time normally would be third-best in school history, but Gomez already holds the school record of 2:19.11.
Finishing third was senior Nehemia Too in 2:21.65, which is fifth-best in school history. Senior Alex Lomong's 2:21.75 effort is now sixth-best in Iowa State history. Freshman Darius Kipyego, in fifth, had the seventh-best time in school history after running 2:21.85. Also finishing seventh was junior David Thompson, a former Griswold High School runner, in 2:24.84.
Cebastian Gentil set a new personal-best time of 1:17.93 in the 600 meters and finishing fourth. Teammate Frank Hayes was seventh in 1:18.65.
In the women's 3,000, former Ballard of Huxley prep Abby Kohut-Jackson finished fourth in 9:10.04. That time represents a 10-second personal best for the Minnesota graduate student.
At the Blue and Gold Invitational hosted by Notre Dame on Friday, Irish runner Matthew Carmody took runner-up honors in the 3,000 meters in 8:04.02. The former Dowling Catholic prep finished just .05 behind his teammate, Carter Solomon.
At the Liberty Kickoff in Lynchburg, Va., former Mid-Prairie prep Anna Hostetler finished fourth overall in the 5,000 meters in 17:00.23. That time puts Hostetler in seventh place all-time at Liberty, which was the host school.
Moving now briefly to triathlon, where former Storm Lake resident and Buena Vista University athlete Matt Hanson returned to action for the first time since having surgery to repair a meniscus in his knee. The Colorado resident finished fourth at Clash Daytona on Saturday at Daytona International Speedway with a 3:12:47 time. Hanson had the second-best run of 59:45. The winning time was Kristian Blummenfelt's 3:08:31. Hanson picked up a $5,500 check.
Iowa City native Lesley Smith finished ninth among the women's pros in 3:41:08. Smith's best leg was the run, where she had the third-best time of 1:08:37. The winner was Jackie Hering in 3:32:50.
At the Ironman 70.3 Indian Wells race on Sunday, Jessica Smith of Clive finished ninth in the women's pro division in 4:27:33. The winning time was 4:14:02.
Turning now to road racing, where former ADM of Adel prep Mason Frank finished 17th overall at the California International Marathon in Sacramento on Sunday. The recent IMT Des Moines Half Marathon champion now residing in Denver ran a new personal-best time of 2:17:29, 12 better than Frank's previous best.
Former Johnston High star and Grand View University national champion Obsie Birru also finished 17th, in the women's pro field in 2:38:18. Birru's best time on a legal course was 2:35:51 at Twin Cities in 2019.
Two native Iowans competed in the USATF Half Marathon Championships in Hardeeville, S.C., on Sunday. Former Spirit Lake prep and Northwestern College runner Will Norris took 30th place in 1:07:05 and former Pleasant Valley and Central College runner Austin O'Brien of the Runablaze Iowa team ended up 46th in 1:10:48.
Former Des Moines Christian prep Oksana Johnson won the women's 800 meters at the SDSU Holiday Open on Friday at the Sanford-Jackrabbit Athletic Complex in Brookings, S.D. Johnson, a senior for South Dakota State University, was clocked in 2:11.52.
In the men's mile, Dordt senior Jacob Vander Plaats took the victory in 4:15.96. That time breaks his own school record of 4:16 and qualifies him for NAIA indoor nationals. Finishing sixth was Runablaze Iowa's Tyson Wieland, a former Johnston and Iowa Central runner, in 4:30.60.
In the men's 600, Dordt sophomores Payton Mauldin and Cole Zevenbergen went 1-2. Mauldin, a freshman from George, set a meet and school record with a time of 1:18.37. Zevenbergen, a freshman from Rock Valley, ran 1:20.5 as both qualified for indoor nationals.
Dordt senior Eric Steiger shattered the school record in the 3,000 meters by running 8:25.7. The former record was 8:32 set by Vander Plaats. He and junior Joe Anderson, who hails from George, was runner-up in 8:30.98. Both will be headed to indoor nationals.
Former Maple Valley/A-O prep Dylan Blake finished runner-up for South Dakota in the men's 800. Blake, a second-year freshman, ran 1:57.61.
In the women's 600, Dordt senior Anmarie Stuit met the automatic standard for NAIA nationals with a personal-best time of 1:35.75. Stuit was third overall.
Several Dordt runners met auto standards for the NAIA nationals marathon the next day at the Midland Half Marathon in Fremont, Neb., on Saturday. Steiger was the overall winner in 1:10:57, bettering the former school record of 1:12:56 from 2015. Other qualifiers: Davis Tebben (1:10:58); Brooks DeWaard (1:11:26); Bailey VandeGriend (1:11:43), Nic Veldhorst (1:11:44), Jacob Brouwer (1:11:52) and Aidan Vorster (1:12:30)
Jessica Kampman was the women's winner of the 13.1-mile race in 1:22:23, also bettering a school record of 1:24:63 set in 20015. Other runners to meet the NAIA standard for the marathon in the spring: Eden Winslow (1:25:41); Brenna Tolkamp (1:25:51); Greichaly Kaster (1:27.01), a sophomore from Harlan; Lucy Borkowski (1:27.28), a freshman from Manilla; Taylor Anema (1:27.44).
Northwestern College also will send three runners to the NAIA marathon in Gulf Shores, Ala., in the spring of 2022. Ian Wiersma ran 1:12:22 and Levi Cross, a former Iowa Christian Academy prep, was 12 seconds back in 1:12:34. Also, Katlyn Wiese beat the women's standard with a 1:26:13 effort. Wiese is a former Ridge View of Holstein runner.
Former Cedar Falls prep Caroline Cunningham earned a provisional qualifying time for NCAA Division II nationals after winning the 5,000 meters at the Mel Tjeerdsma Classic in Maryville, Mo. Cunningham's time of 17:15.09 is second-best in Northwest Missouri State history.
Finishing second in that race was Grand View University's Morgan Lawson. The former Ottumwa High prep ran a life time best of 17:55.55, which is an automatic qualifying time for NAIA nationals.
Her Viking teammate, senior Trevor Albert, shattered his own school record by 34 seconds by running the 5,000 meters in 14:48.43, a time that qualifies for NAIA indoor nationals. The native of Eldon finished second.
In the men's 600 meters, Indian Hills' Roneldo Rock set a new school record of 1:20.75. Rock earned an NJCAA indoor nationals qualifying time after winning by just .07 of a second.
His teammate, Rivaldo Marshall, won the men's 1,000 in 2:27.92. That time will get him to NJCAA indoor nationals.
Runablaze's Jessica Hruska on Saturday finished 10th among all women at the Sound Running and Trials of Miles cross country race at Mt. Sac Cross Country Course in Walnut, Calif. The former Wartburg College runner and Dubuque resident ran 37:05.6 for the 5.5-mile course.
Finishing with trail racing, where Runablaze's Kallin Khan picked up the victory at the 11th annual Valhalla Trail 20K in Solon on Dec. 4. Khan, of Iowa City, ran 1:08:52 to top Iowa City High junior Ford Washburn by 47 seconds. Eli Miller was third in 1:10:20, with Erik Bandy of Coralville fourth in 1:10:28, Warren Clarida fifth in 1:10:41 and Jay Welp of Iowa City sixth in 1:11:47. Welp is a Running Wild Elite athlete.
MISSING A TOP DISTANCE RUNNER OR TRIATHLETE?: Let me know at bergeson@registermedia.com.
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This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Mile posts: Items on Wesley Kiptoo, Gable Sieperda, Anna Hostetler, Matt Hanson, Oksana Johnson, Eric Steiger, Caroline Cunningham
