Kiptoo earned his fifth USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week as a Cyclone, his first in indoor track and field. He has been a USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week nine times in his collegiate career, counting his four wins at Colby (Kan.) CC.
Two weeks off of taking second place individually and leading Iowa State’s men’s team to second at the NCAA Cross Country Championships, Kiptoo showed he was going to be one of the men to beat nationally again with his indoor track and field season opener.
The NCAA Indoor Track & Field Champion at 5,000m in 2021, Kiptoo began his title defense with a huge third-place finish and as the top collegian with a personal best 13:14.74 at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener in Boston on Saturday. Kiptoo’s performance took over nine seconds off his previous indoor school record of 13:23.77 ran at the NCAA Indoor Championships in March and moved him up from No. 11 to No. 3 in collegiate history in the indoor 5,000m. Kiptoo is the only male in collegiate history to go under 13:25 twice indoors at 5,000 meters.
Kiptoo and the Cyclones are back in action this Saturday at the ISU Holiday Invitational at the Lied Recreation Athletic Center in Ames. Field events begin at Noon, with running events at 1 p.m.
