Koll Leads Cyclones to Seventh Place Finish

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - Recent rains left the Lavern Gibson Championship Course as a soggy stage for the 2009 Indiana State University Pre-National Invitational, as the Iowa State Cyclones men and women finished 10th and seventh, respectively. While teams' finishes were strong overall, there is much progress to be made in the coming weeks.

"We're a little disappointed with our finishes but I thought both teams got out and competed really hard," head coach Corey Ihmels said. "We had some individuals on both sides that didn't run up to what I thought they were capable of running and we've got some things to shore up before our conference meet."

Six-time All-American Lisa Koll led the Cyclone women to a 7th-place finish. Koll finished eighth overall (20:40) in a field of 249 runners. Track and field All-American Betsy Saina finished 38th (21:29) in her first Pre-Nationals race, while senior All-American Grace Kemmey finished 53rd (21:37).

"I think across the board we are a little disappointed," Koll said. "I don't think we raced poorly but we didn't get the results we wanted today."

While the Cyclone women finished in the top ten teams, this was not the result the team was looking for at this point in the season.

"We've been training pretty hard and I think we all kind of just felt flat the last couple (thousand meters)," Koll said. "We made some progress since (Roy Griak Invitational) but I think in the next two to four weeks we are going to make even more progress. Over all we're a little disappointed but we're excited to keep working."

Senior All-American Guor Marial was the first Cyclone across the finish line for the men's team, finishing 16th in a field 232 runners. Marial's 16th-place finish led the Iowa State men to a 10th-place finish.

"Today the performance didn't go as we planned it," Marial said. "I think we got out there and spread out too soon and we didn't stick with the plan we had for the race. The race went out fast and I think we kind of fell apart at the (5,000-meter mark). Today we didn't perform the way we wanted to as a team. We have a lot of work to do before the conference meet in two weeks."

Sophomore Hillary Bor, a two-time All-American in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, finished 40th (24:24) while sophomore Yonas Mebrahtu finished 63rd (24:40). Senior Jory Zunich finished 88th (24:59).

The Iowa State cross country team will next travel to Columbia, Mo. for the Big 12 Cross Country Championships Oct. 31. Results will be posted on cyclones.com

Men's Individual Results: 1. Chris Derrick, Stanford, 23:27; 16. Guor Marial, IOWA STATE, 24:06; 40. Hillary Bor, IOWA STATE, 24:24; 63. Yonas Mebrahtu, IOWA STATE, 24:40; 88. Jory Zunich, IOWA STATE, 24:59; 94. Ben Murphy-Baum, IOWA STATE, 25:02; 117. Brandon Rooney, IOWA STATE, 25:17; 125: Rico Loy, IOWA STATE, 25:23.

Men's Team Results: 1. Stanford, 47; 2. Colorado, 130; 3. BYU, 163; 4. Portland, 211; 5. Iona, 218; 6. Arizona State, 232; 7. New Mexico, 278; 8. Florida State, 288; 9. Louisville, 289; 10. IOWA STATE, 301.

Women's Individual Results: 1. Jenny Barringer, Colorado, 19:50; 8. Lisa Koll, IOWA STATE, 20:40; 38. Betsy Saina, 21:29, 53. Grace Kemmey, ISU, 21:37; 64. Alphine Tuliamuk, 21:47; 69. Meaghan Nelson, ISU, 21:50; 109. Paige Ties, 22:10.

Women's Team Results: 1. Colorado, 94; 2. FSU, 135; 3. Oregon, 169; 4. Georgetown, 200; 5. Stanford, 206; 6. Arizona, 225; 7. IOWA STATE, 231; 8. Iowa, 283; 9. UTEP, 284; 10. Michigan State, 302.

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Players Mentioned

Hillary Bor

Hillary Bor

Lisa Koll

Lisa Koll

Rico Loy

Rico Loy

Guor Marial

Guor Marial

Yonas Mebrahtu

Yonas Mebrahtu

Ben Murphy-Baum

Ben Murphy-Baum

Meaghan Nelson

Meaghan Nelson

Brandon Rooney

Brandon Rooney

Betsy Saina

Paige Ties

Paige Ties

Jory Zunich

Jory Zunich

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