AMES, Iowa – Iowa State’s women’s cross country teams placed five runners among the top eight finishers to win the Cyclone Cross Country Classic Saturday on the ISU Cross Country Course. Junior Samantha Bluske led Iowa State with a second-place effort, covering the 5,000 meter course in 17:58. The Cyclones tallied 24 points. Missouri was second with 35 points, led by Bailey Belvis, who won the race in 17:54. The 1-2 individual finish of Mohamed Hrezi and Brian Llamas paced the Iowa State men to a second-place finish. Missouri won the men’s meet with 25 points. The Cyclones tallied 35 points for second.
Several top competitors for the Iowa State cross country teams did not run Saturday as training continues.
“I thought both the women and the men race ran nice, controlled races,” Iowa State head coach Corey Ihmels said. “It was a great experience for our younger runners. I told the team afterwards that it is not important where we are now, it is where we will be in November that is crucial.”
Bluske transferred to Iowa State from Illinois State and sat out the 2011 season.
“I’ve had a year and a half offseason because I transferred here last year and redshirted the whole year,” Bluske said. “It’s been a good eight months since I’ve raced. I think is really just a learning experience to get my feet wet. I’ve been running a ton of miles and had an awesome summer of training. I know my speeds not there but my endurance is there, so it’s pretty much just taking it as a good workout and a good experience to learn to race again, and be confident in my racing. I need to be fast a month and a half from now. I think today was a really good learning experience.”
Iowa State sophomore Katy Moen finished third, Bethany Olson fourth, Andrea Toppin seventh and Colleen Riley eighth for the Cyclones.
Hrezi won the men’s race, covering the 8,000-meter course in 25:21. Llamas was just two seconds behind Hrezi.
“I felt good, coach has done a good job training me,” Hrezi said. “I’m only four weeks into training right now. I didn’t do much training in the summer. I felt pretty dead at the beginning of the race. I started real easy and worked my way up, and I’ll just keep training hard.”
Alexander Dillenbeck was ninth, Falko Zauber 10th and Josh Heitkamp 13th for the Iowa State men.
The Cyclones will compete next at the Roy Griak Invitational Sept. 29 in Falcon Heights, Minn.
Women’s Team Scores
1. IOWA STATE 24; 2. Missouri 35; 3. UW-LaCrosse 83; 4. Wartburg 137; 5. Grandview 142; 6. Iowa Lakes 179; 7. DMACC 210
Iowa State Women’s Individual Results:
1. Bailey Belvis, University of Missouri, 17:54; 2. Dani Stack, unattached, 17:57; 3. Samantha Bluske, IOWA STATE, 17:58; 4. Crystal Nelson, unattached, 18:04; 5. Taylor Petersen, unattached, 18:21; 6. Katy Moen, IOWA STATE, 18:35; 7. Bethany Olson, IOWA STATE, 18:46; 10. Andrea Toppin, IOWA STATE, 18:53; 11. Colleen Riley, IOWA STATE, 18:58; 12. Ejiro Okoro, IOWA STATE, 19:05, 13. Maddy Becker, IOWA STATE, 19:05; 14. Anna Buenneke, unattached, 19:16; 18. Erin Valenti, IOWA STATE, 19:27; 21. Taylor McDowell, unattached, 19:34; 22. Emily Meese, IOWA STATE, 19:39; 24. Madison Nagel, unattached, 19:43; 27. Emily Brush, unattached, 19:49; 35. Kate Kaster, unattached, 20:16; 41. Sydney Lesko, unattched, 20:36;
Men’s Team Scores:
1. Missouri 25; 2. IOWA STATE 35; 3. UW-LaCrosse 85; 4. ISU Running Club 125; 5. NIACC 135; 6. Wartburg 180; 7. Grandview 230; 8. Iowa Lakes CC 248
Iowa State Men’s Individual Results:
1. Mohamed Hrezi, IOWA STATE, 25:21; 2. Brian Lllamas, IOWA STATE, 25:23; 4. Edward Kemboi, unattached, 25:24; 10. Alexander Dillenbeck, IOWA STATE, 25:49; 11. Falko Zauber, IOWA STATE, 25:49; 14. Josh Heitkamp, IOWA STATE, 25:56; 15. Stephen Saylor, IOWA STATE, 25:56; 16. Besu Shannnon-Tamrat, unattached, 25:57; 17. Cullen Wannarka, IOWA STAE, 25:57; 19. Charlie Paul, IOWA STATE, 26.01; 20. Tyler Jermann, IOWA STATE, 26:03; 21. Rico Loy, unattached, 26:06; 23. Abdou Seye, IOWA STATE, 26:07; 34. Nick Schulze, IOWA STATE, 26:27; 41. Edwin Serem, IOWA STATE, 26:43; 42. Kyle Zankowski, IOWA STATE, 26:43; 48. Alec Bollman, IOWA STATE, 27:01; 50. Jacob Aune, unattached, 27:05; 73. Caleb Abfall, unattached, 28:03; 93. Brandon Barnes, IOWA STATE, 29:22
