Caffrey and Reel Highlight ISU Open

Saturday, September 8

Ames, Iowa

10:00 AM

Iowa State

ISU Open

Caffrey and Reel Highlight ISU Open

09.07.2007 | Cross Country

By: cyclones.com

AMES, Iowa ? Iowa State's cross country teams made their lone home appearance Saturday, in the Iowa State Open, and demonstrated the depth both squads would need to challenge for Big 12 conference recognition. Cyclones Dawn Caffrey and Johnny Reel were ISU's top finishers in the women's and men's race respectively. There were no team scores.

Caffrey, an Ankeny native who walked onto the squad two years ago, continued her steady improvement, placed second overall. The junior covered the 5,000-meter course in 18:30.92 seconds.

“I wanted to win but I still feel good about how I ran today,” Caffrey said.

Iowa State head coach Corey Ihmels praised the women's overall effort.

“They exceeded my expectations,” Ihmels said. “Dawn Caffrey is an example of what can happen if you train diligently. She worked hard all summer and has gone from not being in the top seven to our seventh runner to one of our top positions. Ines Fischer competed well and will help us in the future.

The Cyclones other top finishers were Dana Peters, Brittany Rover and Rachel Bell, who finished sixth, seventh and ninth respectively.

Reel, a sophomore, finished third overall in the men's race, covering the 8,000-meter course in 26:23.92.

“This is not a big meet but we did plan to run together as a pack,” Reel said. “We did stay together for a while. I thought I ran well.”

Ihmels stressed that running as a team is an important goal for his squad.

“I though we got out well but then our pack disintegrated,” Ihmels said. “Johnny was essentially about the ninth best guy on the squad last year but has improved dramatically.”

Other Cyclones finishers were Daniel Murray and Daniel Fadgen who all finished in the top six.

The Cyclones return to action at the Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis, Minn. on Sept. 29 at 11 a.m.