ISU Wins Titles at Drake, Puts Up Top Marks in Oregon

ISU Wins Titles at Drake, Puts Up Top Marks in Oregon

04.23.2021 | Track and Field

Drake Relays Photo Gallery Drake Relays Friday Results Oregon Relays Results

DES MOINES, Iowa – Iowa State's mid-distance dominance was on display once again at the Drake Relays on Friday, as the Cyclone men picked up a pair of relay titles and are in strong position to defend their Relays Cup title.

ISU won its third-straight 4x800 title via the team of Jason Gomez, Daniel Nixon, Roshon Roomes and Festus Lagat in a Drake Relays and Iowa State-school record time of 7:12.57, while the sprint medley relay squad of Gage Clay, Joven Nelson, Eric Fogltanz and Roomes also got a victory on the Blue Oval Friday.

Meanwhile in Oregon, all four of ISU's competitors at the Oregon Relays got personal bests, with three coming back to Ames with top-5 times nationally on the season.

The Iowa State men's teams' two wins on Friday gave ISU 20 points in the Men's Relays Cup team standings and a commanding 12-point lead heading into tomorrow's competition.

One of the oldest records on the Drake Relays books was the 7:14.89 4x800-meter relay run by Nebraska in 1985. Few teams have ever been as well-positioned to make a run at that record as a loaded ISU squad, with enough options to field two teams on Friday evening. Jason Gomez and Daniel Nixon both ran in the 1:48s on the first two legs to help ISU build a two-second lead halfway through before handing off to Roomes, whose 1:47.88 put ISU up by over six seconds and left Lagat to pursue the record. The Kenyan was able to get the job done, anchoring in 1:47.51 to bring home the new Drake and Iowa State school record of 7:12.57.

The quartet's 7:12.57 took down ISU's oldest school record, with the previous mark of 7:19.80 being from a meet at Arizona State in 1979. The Cyclones also ran the fifth-fastest 4x800 in collegiate history, and the fastest since Virginia went 7:12.15 at the 2011 Penn Relays. Iowa State also claimed its third-straight 4x800 relay title at the Drake Relays.

The Cyclones' depth at 800m was shown off by the fact that ISU ran a second team in the 4x800, with the quartet of Joe Schaefer, Alex Lomong, Nehemia Too and David Thompson taking sixth in 7:23.41, the seventh-fastest 4x8 quartet in ISU history.

The key leg for ISU's sprint medley victory came from Eric Fogltanz on the 400-meter leg. Gage Clay and Joven Nelson's opening 200s had ISU among the pack on the inside lane, but the All-American hurdler was able to push on the curve to get ahead of everyone at the break. Fogltanz ran the fastest 400m leg (46.71) before handing off to Roomes, who ran a controlled and comfortable 1:51.43 800m to bring home the win in 3:22.06.

The ISU women head into Saturday second of the women's Relays Cup standings thanks to a second-place run in the sprint medley relay of 3:57.13 and a fourth-place effort in the 4x800-meter relay. Individually, Cailie Logue crushed her personal best in the 1,500-meter run, finishing seventh against a strong field in 4:18.16 to shoot up to No. 4 in ISU history for the event.

There were many strong performances in the field on Friday. Leading the way was Kevin Sakson in the men's discus. Sitting eighth after four rounds with a best throw of 170-4 (51.93m), Sakson unloaded a huge, six-foot PR of 181-2 (55.23m) to jump up to second place in the standings. Sakson's toss also allowed the Estonian to enter ISU's all-time top-10 for the discus, the first addition to that list since 2006.

In the women's discus, Emily March pushed her personal best up another four feet en route to finishing fifth with a 165-4 (50.40m). Meanwhile in the men's javelin, Scott Fuchs just missed out on his personal best, taking fourth with a best throw of the day of 215-3 (65.60m).

Oregon Relays
David Too and Reebok Boston Track Club's Adam Visokay moved well ahead of the field to make it a two-man race once pacer Steve Neumaier stepped off the track. Too showed strength off the water jump on the two laps before the bell, but continued to let Visokay have the lead. The third time was go-time for the Cyclone as Too hurdled himself over the final barrier, into the lead and to the finish line first in a personal best 8:40.31, a seven-second drop from his 8:47.58 run in Oregon three weeks ago.

Too's time is No. 2 in NCAA Division I this season at the time of publication and moved him up from No. 7 to No. 4 in ISU history in the event.

Meanwhile, the men's 5K got the ending that so many predicted, as the last mile saw the field's four national champions, Iowa State's Wesley Kiptoo and Edwin Kurgat and Oregon's Cole Hocker and Cooper Teare, separate themselves from the pack to battle for the win. Teare took over the lead for the final three laps, but it was the freshman Hocker who stuck to the inside to beat everyone out. Kurgat, who ran fourth for the entirety of the race until the final front stretch, was able to get ahead of Kiptoo for third, with Kurgat crossing in 13:20.48 and Kiptoo in 13:21.02.

The two marks are No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, nationally this season and move the duo up to No. 2 and No. 3 on ISU's all-time outdoor 5K top-10 list. Both marks also enter the NCAA Division I all-time top-20 for the men's 5K. The Cyclones also got a massive PR from Ezekiel Rop, who went sub-14 for the first time by finishing 10th in 13:45.85 and just missing out on entering the ISU top-10.

Up Next
Iowa State wraps up competition at the Drake Relays tomorrow. Field events begin at 12:45 p.m., with running events starting at 1:15 p.m.

Iowa State Results
Drake Relays
1,500m Run (W): 1. Katie Wasserman, Notre Dame – 4:14.43; 7. Cailie Logue, Iowa State – 4:18.16
100m Hurdles Prelim (W): 1. TeJyrica Robinson, North Carolina A&T – 13.50; 5. Kaylyn Hall, Iowa State – 13.81
110m Hurdles Prelim (M): 1. DJ Adkindele, Houston – 14.12; 5. Mason Weh, Iowa State – 14.59; 16. Jack Garber, Iowa State – 16.06
4x100m Relay Prelim (W): 1. Houston – 44.39; Iowa State (Zakiyah Amos, Bria Barnes, Erika Furbeck, Kaylyn Hall) – DNF
4x800m Relay (M): 1. Iowa State (Jason Gomez, Daniel Nixon, Roshon Roomes, Festus Lagat) – 7:12.57; 6. Iowa State (Joe Schaefer, Alex Lomong, Nehemia Too, David Thompson) – 7:23.41
4x800m Relay (W): 1. Oklahoma State – 8:39.83; 4. Iowa State (Madelynn Hill, Maggie Davis, Alexis Gourrier, Laurel Hoogensen) – 9:06.75
4x1,600m Relay (M): 1. Miami (OH) – 16:40.84; 4. Iowa State (Jeffery Pedersen, Gable Sieperda, Thomas Pollard, Leonel Perez) – 16:53.11
Sprint Medley Relay (M): 1. Iowa State (Gage Clay, Joven Nelson, Eric Fogltanz, Roshon Roomes) – 3:22.06
Sprint Medley Relay (W): 1. North Dakota State – 3:55.87; 2. Iowa State (Kaylyn Hall, Erika Furbeck, Zakiyah Amos, Maggie Davis) – 3:57.13
Discus Throw (M): 1. Mitchell Weber, Missouri – 199-10 (60.91m); 2. Kevin Sakson, Iowa State – 181-2 (55.23m)
Discus Throw (W): 1. Nora Monie, Houston – 190-5 (58.05m); 5. Emily March, Iowa State – 165-4 (50.40m)
Javelin Throw (M): 1. Arthur Petersen, UT-Arlington – 245-2 (74.74m); 4. Scott Fuchs, Iowa State – 215-3 (65.60m)
Shot Put (M): 1. Kristoffer Thomsen, North Dakota State – 64-1 1/4 (19.54m); Kevin Sakson, Iowa State – Foul
Shot Put (W): 1. Akealy Moton, North Dakota State – 56-11 1/2 (17.36m); 5. Keiara Williams, Iowa State – 50-1 3/4 (15.28m)
High Jump (W): 1. Carly Haring, South Dakota – 5-8 3/4 (1.75m); T-11. Megan Durbin, Iowa State – 5-2 1/4 (1.58m)
Triple Jump (W): 1. Amelia Peterson, Western Illinois – 40-11 3/4 (12.49m); 5. Jalaiya Bartley, Iowa State – 39-7 3/4w (12.08m)

Oregon Relays
5,000m Run Invitational (M): 1. Cole Hocker, Oregon – 13:19.98; 3. Edwin Kurgat, Iowa State – 13:20.48; 4. Wesley Kiptoo, Iowa State – 13:21.02; 10. Ezekiel Rop, Iowa State – 13:45.85
3,000m Run Steeplechase (M): 1. David Too, Iowa State – 8:40.31