Ainsley Erzen is the owner of an NCAA record.
The Arkansas junior and her three teammates on the 4x800 relay broke the collegiate record for the two-mile relay distance during the final day of the 97th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays in Austin on Saturday. Erzen, a former Carlisle prep star, ran the second leg in 2 minutes, 4.20 seconds as the Razorbacks posted a time of 8:16.12 that broke the previous college record of 8:17.28 set by Washington last year. Arkansas also broke the Texas Relays record of 8:20.69 by LSU in 2023.
Erzen and her relay including Analisse Batista (2:04.8), Anna Podojil (2:05.5) and Sanu Jallow-Lockhart (2:01.6) lead off this edition of the WEEKEND UPDATE of the best performances by Iowa-based collegiate and postcollegiate distance runners and triathletes.
Arkansas topped Clemson by 4.30 seconds. The Arkansas women's program now holds nine college records between indoor and oudoor seasons, including four relays.
Erzen two days earlier ran the 800 meters and finished sixth in 2:05.86. The winner was West Texas A&M freshman Abigail Abugire in 2:04.89.
Much of Iowa collegians in action last weekend were at two locations: the Washington University Distance Carnival in St. Louis and the Raleigh Relays in North Carolina. It was on North Carolina State's campus where Iowa State redshirt junior Bella Heikes moved into 10th place in the school's all-time list for 5,000 meters. Making her debut at that distance on the track, the former Johnston runner broke 16 minutes while placing 21st overall in the large field. Heikes ran 15:59.06 while finishing second in Section 8. Providence's Alex Millard topped 178 other runners with the beset time of 15:27.02.
Her Cyclone teammate, junior Kiki Connell, placed 22nd overall and 11th in Section 3 after running 10:27.62. Connell is a former Charles City prep and Northern Iowa transfer. North Carolina State's Angelina Napoleon was the overall winner in 9:34.22.
Also in Raleigh on Thursday, Minnesota senior and former Ames High prep Noah Kohut-Jackson clocked a new personal-best time of 14:02.68 for the 5,000. Kohut-Jackson finished second in Section 3 and 77th out of 213 finishers. Wake Forest's Rocky Hansen was the winner in 13:22.06.
The next day, two former Iowans now competing for schools on the East Coast competed in the 1,500. Liberty University senior and former Mid-Prairie (Wellman) star Marie Hostetler ran 4:29.02 for 14th in Section 13. Hostetler was just .15 of a second off her personal-best time. Former Des Moines Roosevelt prep Adrienne Buettner-Cable, now a sophomore at Boston University, was second in Section 4. Buettner-Cable ran a new best of 4:31.52. Virginia's Margot Appleton ran 4:05.68 to take the overall win.
Several Wartburg College runners starred at the Washington U. Distance Carnival on Thursday and Friday. Junior Lance Sobaski picked up the victory in the 3,000 steeplechase in 8:51.84. The former Washington High prep owns the top time in NCAA Division III in the early season. Sobaski was nearly four seconds ahead of Wisconsin-La Crosse's Joey Sullivan. Sobaski's senior teammate, former Liberty High prep Jack Kinzer, took 10th in 9:10.45. Another Knights senior, former Council Bluffs Lewis Central runner Connor Lancial, ended up 15th in 9:18.74.
Former Clear Lake prep Adam Loenser grabbed ninth place and was the third La Crosse runner to finish in the 5,000. The Eagles senior ran 14:09.47, missing his PR by about three seconds. Drake University redshirt sophomore and former Dallas Center-Grimes prep Aidan Ramsey took 37th in 14:38.99. Wartburg junior Shane Erb crossed the line 59th in 14:56.99. Erb is a former Marion runner. Northern Iowa freshman and former Pella High prep Chase Lauman was 112th in 15:24.65.
Wartburg senior ...
