ISU Secures Three Entries at NCAA Indoors

AMES, Iowa – For the Iowa State men's track and field team, their three entries headed to the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships March 12-13 in Fayetteville, Arkansas are about quality. Despite a smaller number of entries, all three of the Cyclones entries are among the top-three seeds of their respective events.

The Big 12 champion at 3,000 and 5,000 meters, Wesley Kiptoo is the No. 1 seed for the men's 5,000-meter run, which will be contested on March 12 at 3:05 p.m. Kiptoo qualified at the Big 12 Championships in Lubbock, Texas last weekend, with his seed time of an altitude-converted 13:31.70 (raw time of 13:42.52) being the best of the entries. The Cyclones have a qualifier in the men's 5,000m for the fourth time in six years, with Edwin Kurgat making it the past two seasons and Daniel Everett in 2016.

For the third-straight season, ISU's men's distance medley relay is in the field and are the No. 2 seed with its school-record 9:27.90 ran in Fayetteville at the Razorback Invitational in January. The men's DMR will be March 12 at 3:45 p.m. The Cyclones will get a rematch against No. 1 seed Oregon, who ran to a collegiate-record 9:19.42 ahead of ISU at the Razorback Invite in January. The quartet in January was Jason Gomez, Cebastian Gentil, Alex Lomong and Kiptoo, with the Cyclones' entered alternates being Joe Schaefer and Nehemia Too. Gentil is a repeat qualifier, as he was a member of last season's DMR qualifying squad.

Gomez also qualified in the 800-meter run, which will have its prelim on March 12 at 2:55 p.m. and final on March 13 at 2:40 p.m. He enters as the No. 3 seed on the back of his 1:47.02 he ran at the Cyclone Open in Ames in January. Gomez picked up the Big 12 title in the event by the barest of margins last weekend, edging freshman Yusuf Bizimana by 0.01 seconds. There is the potential of a first meeting between Gomez and Texas Tech's Takieddine Hedeilli after the latter ran the 1,000m and mile last weekend. Hedeilli is the No. 2 seed at 1:45.68.

The NCAA Indoor Championships will be March 11-13 at the Tyson Track Center on the campus of the University of Arkansas. Live coverage will be provided on ESPN3 with re-airs on ESPNU. More details on championship coverage will be forthcoming from ESPN and the NCAA prior to the Championships.

Players Mentioned

Cebastian Gentil

Jason Gómez

Wesley Kiptoo

Edwin Kurgat

Alex Lomong

Joe Schaefer

Nehemia Too

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics