Completed Event: Track and Field at 44 Farms Team Invite on April 11, 2025 ,
Final
Track and Field
44 Farms Team Invite
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Iowa State University Athletics
Rotich Makes Comeback With First-Place Finish
02.11.2006 | Track and Field, Track & Field (M), Track & Field (W)
AMES, Iowa - Three new meet records, 13 automatic qualifying marks and 131 provisional qualifying marks speak for the caliber of athletes that competed in the ISU Classic. Nearly 80 teams and 2,000 athletes circled the track and performed on the field this weekend.
Cyclone distance runner David Rotich won the mile run after being out of competition for nearly three weeks. Rotich clocked a 4:04.79 in the event despite battling a hamstring injury and being sick for the past few weeks.
"This is the first meet David has competed in since the beginning of the year," said men's head coach Steve Lynn. "He dominated at the end of the race and beat some good runners."
"I felt really good out there running today. I never struggled and I felt comfortable throughout the whole race," Rotich said. "The last 400 just came to me and I was able to finish strong."
Rotich did meet NCAA provisional qualifying mark with his time but Rotich will need to improve on his time in order to make it to nationals.
"It's not good enough," Rotich said. "I still want to get my time down more."
"David performed better today than where we thought he was in training," said distance coach Corey Ihmels. "It's nice to see him run well and gain confidence leading up to the Big 12 meet."
"David's mile performance and Neil's second-place finish in the multi-events were highlights," Lynn said. "Both need to do better to get to nationals; But their names are there and they've established they can compete at a high level."
After Erica Lynn's winning performance and qualifying point total of 3, 729 in the pentathlon on Thursday, it was Ada Anderson placing high for the Cyclone women at day three of the meet.
It was a close race for Anderson as she went toe to toe with Missouri's Ashley Patten. Anderson took second place in the 800-meter run with a provisional qualifying time of 2:05.92. The time also marked a new indoor personal record for Anderson. Patten won the event with an automatic qualifying time of 2:04.73.
"I felt really strong going into the last turn. As soon as Ashley (Patten) came up next to me I just tightened up," said Anderson. "There still a lot left for me to accomplish, but overall I felt good running today."
"Ada had a good race and it will be a great rematch between her and Patten at the Big 12 meet," said women's head coach Dick Lee.
Women's sprints and hurdles coach Scott Roberts was pleased with Anderson's race and the personal record.
"She's way ahead of where we've ever been in training. She tightened up at the end of the race so we'd like to see her keep it loose," Roberts said. "She's got a great shot to be really competitive at the Big 12 Championship."
On the road to the finals of the 60-meter hurdles, ISU's Rebecca Williams turned out her best time of the day in the semi-finals with an 8.38 clocking. In the prelims, she crossed the line with a time of 8.44 and ended up in seventh place overall with a time of 8.46.
"Rebecca ran two excellent preliminary rounds," Roberts said. "Her final time was okay but she just didn't get out like she did in the semi-finals. She's a real rhythm runner. When she's in the groove, she runs really fast but when she's not, we struggle. I look for big things out of her in two weeks at conference."
"It's the first time Rebecca has been in a strong field of competition and that will help her going into the conference meet," Lee said.
For the men, Dan Taylor set a new personal-record in the 3,000 meters when he clocked a time of 8:09.29. It was a competitive field as the top five men provisionally qualified. Freshman Kiel Uhl crossed the line in 16th place among the 100 competitors with a time of 8:13.29.
"Dan had a 13-second personal-record in the 3,000 and I am really proud of the way he's competed here and throughout his career," said men's head coach Steve Lynn. "It was a high level of competition and he had a good race so that was fun to see."
"This is an unbelievable meet," Lynn said. "We had some things go our way and some things that didn't but competing here will get everyone ready for the Big 12 meet."
"We had a very supportive crowd here today," Lee said. "Coaches from the other schools expressed gratitude toward our officials and how well they ran the meet. This is an athlete-friendly place."
The Cyclones pick up again at the UNI Dome Open in Cedar Falls on Saturday.
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