ISU Dominates Big 12 First Day

05.14.2010 | Track and Field

COLUMBIA, Mo. – The Iowa State women's track team used an across the board effort to dominate the first day of the Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships at the Aubrey Walton Stadium Friday. At day's end the Cyclone women had the team scoring lead with 32 points. Kansas is second with 14 points. The Cyclone men are fourth in the men's race with 12 points. Nebraska leads the men's competition with 25 points.

"We had a good day," Iowa State head coach Corey Ihmels said. "We had people on the women's and men's teams really step up."

Iowa State's Lisa Koll became the first woman in Big 12 Conference track and field history to win the same event four times, leading a 1-2-3-6 Cyclone finish in the women's 10,000-meter run in the first event of the league meet. Kiel Uhl was third for ISU in the men's 10,000 meters.

Koll ran a tactical race, leading teammates Semehar Tesfaye, Betsy Saina and Alphine Tuliamuk, who placed second, third and sixth, respectively. Koll's time of 33:51.74 was still fast enough to break the track record of 34:50.43 set by Tera Moody of Colorado in 1998.

"At the Big 12 meet, times mean nothing," Koll said. "The job was to score points and we did that together. Semehar, Betsy and Alphine ran well. Now we rest and get ready for the 5,000-meters on Sunday."

The race had been mapped out ahead of time as Cyclone head coach Corey Ihmels met with the quartet Thursday night.

"We wanted to come away with 24 points in this race and we ended up scoring 27 so it was a good morning on the women's side," Ihmels said. "We just wanted to run smart with the knowledge that there are more races to come."

Koll, a Fort Dodge native, checked her watch as she finished each of the 25 laps. Unlike most of her other 10,000-meter efforts, she did not break away from the field right away, leading the pack with her teammates on her heels. Uhl, a senior from Des Moines Roosevelt High School, had a strong finish to place third in the 10,000. John Kosgei won the race in a Big 12 meet record 29:24.51 and Colorado's Kenyon Neuman placed second in 29:25.06. Uhl's time was 29:27.15. The race was the fastest in league history. Uhl's time was faster than the winning time of all but one previous Big 12 10,000-meter race.

"I think because the race was run on Friday morning the field was larger and better because these guys won't run the 5,000-meters until Sunday," Ihmels said. "Kiel ran a great race."

Uhl said the race had it surges.

"At one point there was a 66-second lap in the middle of the race," Uhl said. "Different individuals would rush to the front and make a move so you had to be ready to go with them if you wanted to stay with the leaders."

Iowa State's Zack Richards placed third in the hammer throw with best effort of 200-1.

"Last year I didn't make it to finals, and that was pretty tough," Richards said. "This year was good. I competed well. I was throwing pretty well, but I was just looking for that one really good throw. I threw 200 (feet) in my first throw. We've been training really hard, and I had a really good week of training coming into this weekend."

In the women's hammer ISU's Britta Christofferson saved her best throw for the last round. Her effort of 184-4 put her fourth in the final standings.

"I was just trying to compete with everyone and go with the flow," Christofferson said. "I got passed before my last throw, so I was really glad to get that last throw in to finish fourth." Ihmels was pleased by the effort of his throwers. "I thought even the people who didn't make the final threw well so I'm really pleased with our team effort," Ihmels said.

Competition begins Saturday at 10 a.m.

Iowa State Results Men: 10,000-meter run: 1) John Kosgei, Oklahoma State, 29:24.21; 3) Kiel Uhl, IOWA STATE, 29:27.15; 12) Guor Marial, IOWA STATE, 30:11.63; 13) Jory Zunich, IOWA STATE,30:29.30; 14) Clayton Carper, IOWA STATE, 30:43.00; 20) Ben Murphy-Baum, IOWA STATE, 31:41.72.

Hammer throw: 1) KP Singh, Oklahoma, 215-06; 3) Zach Richards, IOWA STATE, 200-01; 9) Josh Koglin, IOWA STATE, 180-08; 14) Mike Zika, IOWA STATE, 172-04.

Javelin: 1) Sam Humphreys, Texas A&M, 243-09; 10) Dan Newhouse, IOWA STATE, 198-02.

Women: 10,000-meter run: 1) Lisa Koll, IOWA STATE, 33:51.74; 2) Semehar Tesfaye, IOWA STATE, 34:07.29; 3) Betsy Saina, IOWA STATE, 34:37.70; 6) Alphine Tuliamuk, IOWA STATE, 35:11.12.

Hammer throw: 1) Alena Krechyk, Kansas, 206-07; 4) Britta Christofferson, IOWA STATE, 185-04; 10) Danielle Frere, IOWA STATE, 171-06; 14) Emily Nugent, IOWA STATE, 165-07; 15) Laishema Hampton, IOWA STATE, 162-08; 18) Lillian Sawhill, IOWA STATE, 152-01.

Team Standings (after day one):

Men's Team Scoring:
1) Nebraska, 25; 2) Oklahoma, 24; 3) Colorado, 18; 4) IOWA STATE, 12; 5) Texas A&M, 11; 6) Oklahoma State, 10; T7) Missouri, 6; T7) Baylor, 6; 9) Kansas State, 5.

Women's Team Scoring:
1) IOWA STATE, 32; 2) Kansas, 14; 3) Nebraska, 13; 4) Texas Tech, 8; 5) Texas A&M, 6; T6) Kansas State, 2; T6) Missouri, 2; 8) Texas, 1.