Iowa State Gets 23 Entries at NCAA West Prelims

AMES, Iowa – The road to Eugene, Oregon and the 2022 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships will go through the NCAA West Preliminaries next week at Arkansas, and the Cyclones will be well represented with 23 entries, which were announced on Thursday. The Iowa State men's squad boasts 13 entries, while the Cyclone women have 10 entries.

The ISU women's team, fresh of its highest Big 12 finish in nine years (fifth), demonstrated huge improvement from year-to-year after only earning three NCAA West Prelims entries in 2021.

Once again, Iowa State's men's entries are highlighted by the 800-meter run, with the Cyclones having four entries, all of whom will be strong contenders to make it to Eugene. Three Cyclones are among the top-10 seeds in Cebastian Gentil (fourth, 1:46.97), Jason Gomez (fifth, 1:47.12) and Darius Kipyego (seventh, 1:47.22), with Peter Smith (18th, 1:48.53) not far behind. Gomez will be looking for a second-straight NCAA Outdoor Championships trip in the 800m, while Gentil will be making his first individual NCAA West Prelims appearance after being part of ISU's 4x400m relay team last year. Kipyego and Smith are first-time NCAA west Prelims qualifiers.

The Cyclone men will boast three entries in the 5,000m run in Chad Johnson (19th, 13:34.86), Ezekiel Rop (21st, 13:36.77) and Ryan Ford (33rd, 13:42.61). Johnson and Rop will be making their first NCAA West Prelims appearances, while Ford was an NCAA East Prelims qualifier in the 10,000m for UT-Martin last season.

Ford will be doing a double next week, as he also qualified for the 10,000m run (20th, 28:34.35). Joining him in the 10K will be Thomas Pollard (14th, 28:23.19), who will be making his third career NCAA West Prelims appearance in the event.

For the second-straight season, Kevin Sakson made it to the NCAA West Prelims round in both of his field events with his efforts in the shot put (17th, 62-4, 19.00m) and the discus (46th, 179-1, 54.58m). In the steeplechase, Gable Sieperda (18th, 8:43.45) came devastating close to making it to Eugene in 2021, tripping over a barrier on the final lap that saw him finish 14th, with only 12 advancing. He will get another chance to earn a trip to Eugene next Friday.

Nehemia Too will be making his first career NCAA West Prelims trip, with the two-time Indoor All-American making it in the 1,500m run (13th, 3:39.27).

Three Iowa State women are returnees to the NCAA West Prelims, highlighting that group is Emily March in the discus (eighth, 189-11, 57.88m), coming off scoring for ISU in both the discus and the hammer throw at the conference championships last week. Janette Schraft also makes a second-straight trip in the 3,000m steeplechase (31st, 10:18.02) and is coming off a bronze medal in the event at the Big 12 Championships.

Kaylyn Hall's last NCAA West Prelims appearance came in 2019, but she is back in 2022 and this time in two events, making it both in the 100m hurdles (20th, 13.22) and the 400m hurdles (33rd, 59.32). She will be joined in the 100m hurdles by teammate Katarina Vlahovic (24th, 13.31).

Big 12 5,000m run champion Dana Feyen will take on the 10,000m run in Fayetteville (18th, 33:37.10) and will be joined by teammate Winrose Chesang (33rd, 34:01.33). In her fourth year as a Cyclone, Zakiyah Amos has finally earned an NCAA West Prelims trip, making it in the 400m dash (41st, 53.92). A true freshman, Sydney Willits will get a chance to continue her season in the long jump (32nd, 20-3 3/4w, 6.19m). Antonella Creazzola threw a personal best 205-1 (62.50m) in the hammer throw to get a bronze medal at the Big 12 Championships last week and rounds out ISU's field as the No. 21 seed.

The NCAA West Preliminaries will be hosted by Arkansas May 25-28 at John McDonnell Track. The top-12 finishers at the West Prelims will earn their spots at the 2022 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships at Oregon's Haward Field from June 8-11.

Iowa State NCAA West Preliminaries Qualifiers
Men
800m Run: Cebastian Gentil, Jason Gomez, Darius Kipyego, Peter Smith
1,500m Run: Nehemia Too
5,000m Run: Ryan Ford, Chad Johnson, Ezekiel Rop
10,000m Run: Ryan Ford, Thomas Pollard
3,000m Steeplechase: Gable Sieperda
Shot Put: Kevin Sakson
Discus Throw: Kevin Sakson

Women
400m Dash: Zakiyah Amos
10,000m Run: Winrose Chesang, Dana Feyen
100m Hurdles: Kaylyn Hall, Katarina Vlahovic
400m Hurdles: Kaylyn Hall
3,000m Steeplechase: Janette Schraft
Long Jump: Sydney Willits
Discus Throw: Emily March
Hammer Throw: Antonella Creazzola

Players Mentioned

Zakiyah Amos

Winrose Chesang

Antonella Creazzola

Dana Feyen

Ryan Ford

Cebastian Gentil

Jason Gómez

Kaylyn Hall

Chad Johnson

Darius Kipyego

Emily March

Thomas Pollard

Ezekiel Rop

Kevin Sakson

Janette Schraft

Gable Sieperda

Peter Smith

Nehemia Too

Katarina Vlahovic

Sydney Willits

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