Cyclones Impressive at Holiday Preview

Friday, December 7

Ames, Iowa

2:00 PM

Iowa State

Holiday Preview

Cyclones Impressive at Holiday Preview

12.07.2007 | Track and Field

By: cyclones.com

AMES, Iowa- Iowa State's track and field teams opened the season with stellar performances by numerous athletes at the Holiday Preview hosted by the Cyclones in the Lied Recreational Center. Eleven squad members earned first-place finishes and more than 10 athletes ran career best times. All together the Cyclones won 14 of the 34 events.

“I thought we did a pretty good job today,” said first-year sprints and hurdles coach Ronnie Williams. “We definitely came out of our fall training strong. We had a lot of athletes achieve personal best times today. Today was a great way to start the season.”

Offseason training paid dividends for Jenna Caffrey and Jared Lewis. Both Cyclones played a role in highlighting the Holiday Preview, earning first-place finishes in their respective events. In the 60-meter hurdles, the Cyclones packed a one, two, three punch with Caffrey finishing first in 8.76 seconds, senior Megan Nielsen finishing second in 9.08 and first-year hurdler Myranda Casterline earning third with a time of 9.27.

In the 60-meter dash junior Jared Lewis' effort of 6.86 was good enough to earn him the top spot at the meet. Lewis dominated the field, finishing nearly five hundredths of a second ahead of the runner up. 60-meter hurdler Sterling Frison also found himself victorious, running a personal best time of 8.23 seconds. Other champions include Ryan Paul who won the long jump with a leap of 21-11 ? and David Lantz, running unattached, who earned the title in the 800-meter run. Junior thrower Zac Brouillette stole two crowns, the first in the weight throw, launching it 57-01 ?. Brouillette's second title came in the shot put with a throw of 53-03 ?.

The Cyclones also dominated the women's 60-meter dash, placingg four athletes among the top eight finishers. Lashawn Wright earned the crown in the event with a time of 7.63. Freshman Monique Hawkins finished runner-up in 7.79.

Newcomers Tiffany Synacek, Brittany Machacek and Michelle Jensen all contributed in their debut as Cyclones. Synacek outlasted the competition in the high jump, finishing at a height of 5-6 3/4. Machacek crossed the finish line first overall in the 300-meter dash with a time of 40.13. Jensen raced to victory in the 800-meter run in 2:21.23.

Other notable performances on the women's side include Amy Waggoner who finished third in the weight throw (53-00 ?) and in the shot put (44-08 ?). Teammate Britta Christofferson earned second in the women's shot put with a toss of 46-02 ?. Freshman Kersten Thorgaard crossed the line third in the 400-meter dash with a clocking of 59.11.

On the men's side Ryan Williams and Michael Alexander finished second and third, respectively in the 800-meter run. Williams finished in 1:55.31 and Alexander crossed closely behind him in 1:55.54.

Iowa State closed out the 2007 Holiday Preview meet with a bang. The women's 4x300 meter relay team comprised of Hawkins, Thorgaard, Caffrey and Machacek swept the field, finishing first with a time of 2:44.35. The men's 4x300-meter relay team with Lewis, Marvin Cosby Derron Montgomery and Chris Ward also finished first in 2:18.06.

The Cyclones will resume action after Christmas break. January 11th the squad will travel to Fayetteville Ark., home of the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, to compete in the Arkansas Invitational.