WACO, Texas — Meaghan Nelson led an Iowa State Cardinal and Gold rush, as the Cyclone women went 1-2-4-6-7 in the 10,000 meters to give the Iowa Staters the first day lead at the Big 12 Conference Outdoor Track and Field Championships. The Cyclones have 35 points. Texas is second with 21. The Iowa State men are fourth after day one. Oklahoma leads with 31.
For Nelson, a four-time All-American who finished 12th in the 10,000-meters at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials and ran a 10K at Stanford Sunday, won her first Big 12 Conference individual title. Iowa State could have been even more dominant, but national collegiate leader Betsy Saina did not run in the 10,000 meters.
With only a few laps left in Friday’s 10,000-meter run, Nelson separated herself from the pack. The Cyclone senior cruised to a 35:05.38 victory in the race followed by teammate Dani Stack.
“The plan was to not take the race the first 12 laps or so,” Nelson said. “Let everyone else lead it and then after the first five we would get going and try and break it down. Dani took it out and really broke it and that was good. (Iowa State’s) Sam (Bluske) took a couple of laps and that helped me get it rolling.”
Once Nelson took the lead she never gave it back. Bluske was fourth, Crystal Nelson sixth and Katy Moen earned seventh place for the Cyclones.
“Really what tonight was about scoring as many points as we could,” Nelson said. “If it was me or if it was Dani or Sam as long as we had Iowa State winning it was a good thing.”
Mohamed Hrezi led the men in his first ever 10,000-meter run with an impressive 29:25.17, good enough for fifth overall.
Junior Hayli Bozarth broke the Iowa State hammer throw record on her third try in the event, but she wasn’t close to being done. On her fifth throw she bested her previous toss of 199-03, which was already a school record, with a mark of 203-07. On her last throw she heaved another school record toss of 207-08. She finished third overall.
“My first throw was a bomb and I fouled it,” Bozarth said. “My second throw felt like I kind of held back and was cautious on it, but it was still 58 meters. I was like ‘if that can be 58 meters I know that there is a lot more in the tank.’ After each throw I went to coach and I asked him what I missed or what I need to work on to get better. It was a great progression, as each throw did get better. I don’t think I have ever had that before so it’s a great feeling knowing that it’s there and I can build off that.”
Bozarth was still numb after the competition.
“It feels great,” Bozarth said. “It still hasn’t quite hit me yet, but when it does it’s going to be amazing.”
On the men’s side Zack Richards led the Cyclones with a personal best toss of 204-10.00. Richards’ top two marks in the event have both come during the Big 12 Championships.
The Iowa State multi events group had a strong showing with personal bests across the board for both the men and the women.
Ethan Wilkins currently sits in third place in the decathlon standings after a solid day. Wilkins ran a personal best time of 11.12 in the 100-meter dash and had a personal best mark in the shot put with a toss of 41-05.75.
“I was happy with Ethan’s performance,” Iowa State multi-events coach Pete Herber said. “He’s sitting in third right now and I think he has set himself up well for some good competition.”
Along with Wilkins, Taylor Sanderson had a personal best mark of 22-09.00 in the long jump, shattering his previous personal best mark of 21-11.75.
Senior Jordon Andreassen led the Cyclone women in the heptathlon with a personal best time of 14.34 in the 100-meter hurdles. Bree Woelber also registered a personal best time of 14.45 in the race. Kaci Storm had a strong outing in the shot put with a personal best mark of 29-04.50.
“We need to stay confident and compete within ourselves,” Herber said. “We just need to take care of the little things and we’ll do fine.”
The decathlon resumes Saturday and kicks off the meet at 10 a.m. CDT with the 110-meter hurdles. The long jump starts the heptathlon beginning at 10:30 a.m. Results will be posted on cyclones.com after the conclusion of the day’s events.
Current Team Standings:
Women:
1)IOWA STATE, 35; 2)Texas, 21; 3) Kanas, 20; 4) Kansas State, 10; 5) Baylor; 8; 5) Oklahoma, 8; 7) TCU, 5; 7) Oklahoma State, 5; 7) West Virginia, 5.
Men:
1) Oklahoma, 31; 2) Texas, 14; 3) Oklahoma State, 13; 4) IOWA STATE, 12; 5) Texas Tech,5; 6) Kanas State, 3.
Women’s Results
100-meter hurdles heptathlon: 1) Richelle Farley, Kansas State, 13.62; 7) Jordon Andreassen, IOWA STATE, 14.34; 8) Bree Woelber, IOWA STATE, 14.45; 11) Kaci Storm, IOWA STATE, 15.22.
200-meter dash heptathlon: 1) Richelle Farley, Kansas State, 24.92; 10) Kaci Storm, IOWA STATE, 26.60; 12) Jordon Andreassen, IOWA STATE, 27.09; 13) Bree Woelber, IOWA STATE, 27.26.
High jump hepthalon: 1) Lindsay Vollmer, Kansas, 5-08.75; 4) Jordon Andreassen, IOWA STATE, 5-05.25; 13) Bree Woelber, IOWA STATE, 5-01.75.
Shot put heptathlon: 1) Lindsay Vollmer, Kansas, 40-02.75; 7) Jordon Andreassen, IOWA STATE, 33-05.25; 10) Bree Woelber, IOWA STATE, 30-06.50; 12) Kaci Storm, IOWA STATE, 29-04.50
Heptathlon standings: 1) 1) Lindsay Vollmer, Kasas, 3490; 7) Jordon Andreassen, IOWA STATE, 2983; 11) Bree Woelber, IOWA STATE, 2791; 16) Kaci Storm, IOWA STATE, 2019.
10,000-meter run: 1) Meaghan Nelson, IOWA STATE, 35:05.38; 2) Dani Stack, IOWA STATE, 35:09.93; 4) Samantha Bluske, IOWA STATE, 35:28.90; 6) Crystal Nelson, IOWA STATE, 35:47.50; 7) Katy Moen, IOWA STATE, 36:08.80
Hammer throw: 1) Sara Savatovic, Kansas State, 210-04; 3) Hayli Bozarth, IOWA STATE, 207-08; 8) Danielle Frere, IOWA STATE, 181-07; 11) Laishema Hampton, IOWA STATE, 165-01; 12) Kayla Sanborn, IOWA STATE, 165-01.
Men’s Results
100-meter dash decathlon: 1) Johannes Hock, Texas, 10.78; 3) Ethan Wilkins, IOWA STATE, 11.12; 7) Taylor Sanderson, IOWA STATE, 11.38; 10) Matt Harmeyer, IOWA STATE, 11.77.
400-meter dash decathlon: 1) Johannes Hock, Texas, 49.80; 2) Ethan Wilkins, IOWA STATE, 49.89; 5) Taylor Sanderson, IOWA STATE, 51.33; 7) Matt Harmeyer, IOWA STATE, 51.78
Shot put decathlon: 1) Johannes Hock, Texas, 50-06.25; 5) Ethan Wilkins, IOWA STATE, 41-05.75; 8) Taylor Sanderson, IOWA STATE, 34-10.50; 10) Matt Harmeyer, IOWA STATE, 33-03.25.
High jump decathlon: 1) Reinis Kregers, Kansas State, 6-05.50; T3) Ethan Wilkins, IOWA STATE, 6-03.25; T6) Matt Harmeyer, IOWA STATE, 6-02.00.
Long jump decathlon: 1) Johannes Hock, Texas, 24-05.75; 3) Taylor Sanderson, IOWA STATE, 22-09.00; 6) Ethan Wilkins, IOWA STATE, 22-04.50; 10) Matt Harmeyer, IOWA STATE, 18-07.00.
Decathlon standings: 1) Nick Johannes, Texas, 4222; 3) Ethan Wilkins, IOWA STATE, 3793; 9) Matt Harmeyer, IOWA STATE, 3135; 10) Taylor Sanderson, IOWA STATE, 2853.
10,000-meter run: 1) Kevin Schwab, Oklahoma, 29.12.84; 5) Mohamed Hrezi, IOWA STATE, 29:25.17; 13) Stephen Saylor, IOWA STATE, 30:10.39; 14) Charlie Paul, IOWA STATE, 30:43.89.
Hammer throw: 1) Nick Miller, Oklahoma State, 227-01; 2) Zack Richards, IOWA STATE, 204-10; 10) Henry Kelley, IOWA STATE, 159-07.
