Cyclone Trio Ready for U-20 World Champs

AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State track and field program will have three representatives at the IAAF U-20 World Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland beginning on Tuesday. Current Cyclones Kelly Naumann and Thomas Pollard will be representing Team USA, while incoming freshman Branna MacDougall will be representing Canada.

Naumann kicks off competition for the Cyclone contingent Tuesday morning at 9:55 a.m. in Poland, 2:55 a.m. Central Time in the heats of the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase, with an eye on advancing to the final on Friday evening. Pollard will run the final of the men's 10,000-meter competition on Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. in Bydgoszcz, 1:30 p.m. back home in Ames.

MacDougall will run in the women's 5,000-meter run final on Saturday, July 23, at 10:30 a.m., 3:30 a.m. CT.

ISU runners Naumann and Pollard earned their spots on the plane to Poland via their performances at the USATF Junior Championships four weeks ago in Clovis, California. Pollard came from behind on the front stretch to win the 10,000-meter competition, while Naumann battled a tight competition for second place to advance on in the steeplechase. This will be Naumann's first time wearing the Red, White and Blue of the United States, while Pollard is back in the Team USA colors four months after winning a silver medal at the Pan American Cup in Venezuela.

MacDougall already has a plethora of experience running in the Red and White of Canada. She also ran at the Pan American Cup in Venezuela in March, leading a Canada 1-2 to give herself individual and team gold medals in the junior women's division. In 2015 at the Pan American Cross Country Cup in Colombia, she was the bronze medalist in the junior women's division. On the track, MacDougall qualified for the meet by running a 16:10.70 at the London Distance Series in May.