Mile posts: Items on Cailie Logue, Emma Huston, Garret Ehlers, Austin O'Brien, Tyler Jermann, Nicholas Yanek, Jenny Simpson, Craig Becker

Cailie Logue stands alone as Iowa State's most decorated Big 12 Conference champion. Now the native of Erie, Kan., and Ames resident stands alone in the Iowa road racing record books.

The Iowa State graduate student claimed victory at the fourth annual Blazing 5K at Water Works Park in Des Moines on Sunday and leads off this edition of the WEEKEND UPDATE of the best performances by Iowa-based collegiate and postcollegiate distance runners and triathletes.

Logue rolled to victory over the 3.1-mile course in 15:55 to win by 22 seconds and topple one of the longest records in Iowa road racing history. Logue eclipsed the previous Iowa women's record of 16:04 set by former Iowa Hawkeye great Nan Doak, 30, of Coralville at the Cedar Rapids YMCA race in 1992.

The six-time NCAA All-American picked up $900 total for the 5K win, taking the Back Loop Challenge in 7:41, setting a new course record and earning a time bonus. Logue ended her eligibility with All-American honors in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in June.

Finishing a strong second was former Des Moines Roosevelt prep star and Drake University 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000 record holder Emma Huston of Des Moines. Huston ran 16:17 after running the Back Loop Challenge in 7:48. That time ties Huston for the fourth-best time in Iowa history with former Cyclone Ashley Tutt, who won last year's Blazing 5K. Huston has a U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials qualifying time from last December's California International Marathon when she ran 2:34:28.

Rounding out the top three was Runablaze Iowa's Pasca Myers, the 2014 Grandma's Marathon champion, in 16:40. Myers is now seventh best in Iowa history. She resides in Ames. Former Luther College runner Flannery Cerbin-Bohach of the Runablaze team and a rural Cresco resident topped her 5K personal record by two seconds after taking fifth place in 17:13.

Former Iowa athlete Madeline Block of Marion took sixth in 17:18. Block is an Iowa graduate student and former Linn-Mar prep. Andrea Ertz came to race representing the Running Wild Elite team and came home seventh in 17:20. That time is a new RWE club record for the former Mount Mercy and Marion High standout. Ertz lives in Central City. Former Iowa athlete and Albia prep Jordan Winke crushed her 5K best by 37 seconds after running 17:24 and finishing eighth. Winke is a Runablaze athlete who lives in University Heights. Nikki Borner of Indianola placed 10th in 17:37. Runablaze's Elaina Biechler of Dubuque finished 11th in 18:20. Biechler is a former Coe College star. Jodi Smith, an Ames High assistant girls cross country coach, finished 12th in 18:25. Former Iowa and Johnston High athlete Jessica McKee of Johnston grabbed 13th place in 18:38. Former Cedar Falls prep and Northwest Missouri State record holder Caroline Cunningham, 20 weeks pregnant, ended up 14th in 19:04. Cunningham still resides in Maryville, Mo.

Former Morningside College five-time NAIA All-American Garret Ehlers also jumped into the Iowa road racing record books with a runner-up finish in the men's 5K to Noah Rasmussen. Ehlers, a current Morningside assistant coach and native of Ida Grove, ran 14:21, a 4:37 pace. Ehlers' time is now tied for fourth best in Iowa history with former Iowa standout Kevin Herd, run in Iowa City in 1994. Ehlers also ran the second-best time ever in Runablaze history, trailing only 2020 winner Jay Welp by two seconds. He was 10 seconds behind Rasmussen in the Back Loop Challenge after running 6:53. Rasmussen, a Lincoln, Neb., resident, ran 14:16 for the 5K.

"One of the fastest Iowan Road Races 5K of all time and something I thought would take years - my team and I managed to get to in a year," Ehlers wrote in Instagram. "I have a lot more racing in front of me and a lot bigger barriers to break. Thanks to all who made it possible. It’s been a year I’ll never forget and we are just getting started."

Placing fourth and running just four seconds slower than his sixth-best time ever run in Iowa road racing history was Austin O'Brien of Waukee. O'Brien ran 14:26 while nipping his Runablaze Iowa teammate, Blake Whalen, by one second. O'Brien is a former Pleasant Valley prep and Central College star. Whalen, who owns the seventh-best time in Iowa road racing history at 14:23 set at the 2022 Blazing 5K, is a former Dubuque Senior and Iowa Central Community College standout. He resides in Des Moines.

"Really excited to see this result after trying something completely different in training and looking forward to keeping this momentum!" O'Brien wrote on Instagram.

Matt Lorenz of Swisher, coming off a 2:22:23 marathon at the Quad Cities Marathon two weeks ago, stepped up well with a 14:45 effort for eighth. He is a former Cedar Rapids Prairie athlete. Former Loras College standout and current Runablaze athlete Luke Guttormson of West Bend, Wis., placed 11th in 14:55. Current Iowa State student Jack Moran of the ISU Run Club placed 14th in 15:03. Former Luther College standout and current East Dubuque head cross country coach Michael Eyres of Dubuque took 15th in 15:03. That time is a personal best by 26 seconds and a Crown Running club record. Former Loras and Davenport Central athlete Mason Tope ended up 17th in 15:08. Tope, also a Crown athlete, notched a 22-second PR. Runablaze's Tyler Lance of Algona captured 18th in 15:10. Crown Running's final entrant was Kyle Pape of Ankeny. The former Dubuque Senior and Central College standout was 19th in 15:20. Former Iowa runner Noah Healy of North Liberty placed 21st in 15:25. Healy is a Running Wild Elite athlete. Coming in four seconds later was teammate and Iowa masters 5K record holder Ean Caskey of Lisbon. The former Cornell College great ran 15:29, which is just nine seconds off his Iowa all-time road racing record. Runablaze's William Lusty, a former Georgia Tech athlete, came in 23rd in 15:31. He resides in Des Moines. Runablaze leader and former Johnston and Iowa Central standout Tyson Wieland of Des Moines ended up 25th in 15:44. Former Western Dubuque and Loras runner Ethan Hammerand of Woodbine was next in 15:46. The final finisher was former Linn-Mar great and Ankeny resident Josh Evans. The Runablaze athlete ran 15:58.

Evans came back to finish fourth in the open mile race held just 45 minutes after the start of the men's elite race. Evans was timed in 4:32. Caskey was another two seconds back in fifth. Lance placed sixth in 4:36. Wieland was 11th in 4:53. The men's winner was also Rasmussen in 4:22. Cerbin-Bohach returned in the mile to take runner-up honors in the women's competition. She ran 5:16, just four seconds behind Riley McMahon of Union Grove, Wis.

The open 5K winner was Urbandale head girls cross country coach David Roney in 16:18. He was 10 seconds ahead of former Southeast Polk runner Nathan White.

Staying with road racing and the Chicago Marathon on Sunday, where Tyler Jermann produced a strong effort while placing 24th overall in 2:16:23. The former Iowa State runner and current Minnesota Distance Elite athlete who was supposed to run the canceled Twin Cities Marathon last weekend already had his Olympic Trials qualifying time. He owns a best of 2:12:40 for the 26.2-mile distance. Former Pleasant Valley and Georgia runner Nicholas Yanek finished 47th among all men's finishers in a new best of 2:22:16. Yanek is a University of Tennessee doctoral student. Former Cedar Falls resident David Sevcik, now located in Westminster, Colo., placed 68th among all the men in 2:24:39. Two Central College graduates also fared well on the streets of Chicago. Former Southeast Polk and Monroe native Daniel Sunvold ran 2:34:30 for 252nd among all men. Sunvold now lives in Midvale, Utah. Nathan Sanders of Dallas Center took 310th among all men in 2:36:04. Sanders is a former Waukee High prep.

Former Iowa All-American Diane Nukuri, an Asics athlete based in Flagstaff, Ariz., placed 22nd among the professional women in 2:34:29. Former Newton High and Drake standout Casey McDermott placed 104th among all women in 2:51:15. She is a Malcom resident. Former Iowa City West and Iowa runner Gabby Skopec of Coralville ran 2:58:50. She was 256th among all women.

At the Boston 10K for Women on Saturday, former 1,500-meter world champion Jenny Simpson placed third overall. The Webster City native who also lived in Fort Dodge and Ames as a child ran 32:39. Simpson now resides in Boulder, Colo. Seven-time NCAA Division III champion Kassie Parker crossed the line 17th in 33:30. The former Clayton Ridge (Guttenberg) prep is a recent Hansons-Brooks racing team addition now living in Rochester, Mich.

At the Running Free 5K in Rock Island, Ill., on Saturday, Running Wild Elite's Kelsey Allbaugh of Bettendorf was the women's champion in 18:25.

At Saturday's Dady Dash in Cedar Rapids, RWE's Nathan Hopp was the overall 10K winner in 33:55. Hopp, 40, of Cedar Rapids won by more than three minutes.

Shifting to college cross country, where only one major meet concerning Iowa teams was held. That was the Briar Cliff Invitational at the Adams Nature Preserve in North Sioux City, S.D. The sixth-ranked (by U.S. Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association) Dordt University men clinched the team title with 46 points, 17 ahead of NCAA Division II power Minnesota State. Finishing seventh in the 8K for the Defenders and earning his second top-10 of his freshman season was Craig Becker. The former Atlantic prep ran 25:09.73, a new best by 41 seconds. Sophomore Sam May also cracked the top 50 by running 26:09.49, 14 seconds faster than his previous best. May is a former MOC-FV (Orange City) prep. The winner was Minnesota State senior Tanner Maier in 24:39.14.

Dordt freshman Isabella Webb helped pace the No. 6 Defender women to the team title by placing 13th in the 6K race in 22:15.79. That finish is the best in the career of the former Waukee High prep. Senior teammate Lucy Borkowski, a former Harlan Community prep, was 17th in 22:32.85. Dordt scored 58 points to top 16 other teams. The Defenders were seven points ahead of NCAA Division II Sioux Falls.

Morningside College sophomore Courtney Sporrer was the top finisher from Iowa in 11th place. The former Logan-Magnolia prep ran 22:11.79. Senior sister Taylor Sporrer also jumped into the top 50 with a 46th-place finish in 23:24.94.

Leading Mount Mercy's cause was former Melcher-Dallas prep J'Lyn Knutson. The junior ran 22:56.39 for 26th place. Four spots behind her was former MOC-FV (Orange City) prep Emily Haverdink of Northwestern College. The sophomore was clocked in a new best by almost 30 seconds. She ran 22:59.79. Grand View was paced by former Clear Creek-Amana prep Kalin Rotzoll in 55th place. Rotzoll ran 23:38.35. The winner was Sioux Falls junior Khot Juac in 20:54.50.

Finishing with trail racing, where the same two individuals repeated as champion at the Annett Nature Center 5K in rural Indianola on Sunday. Former UT-Stout standout Aleksandr Ilyushev was the men's winner in 17:22. He won by 2:10. The women's winner was Kiersten Hathaway of Clive in 22:16.

MISSING A TOP DISTANCE RUNNER OR TRIATHLETE?: Let me know at bergeson@registermedia.com.

Want to hear more about distance running in Iowa. Listen to my podcast here: https://anchor.fm/lance-bergeson8

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Mile posts: Items on Cailie Logue, Emma Huston, Garret Ehlers, Austin O'Brien, Tyler Jermann, Nicholas Yanek, Jenny Simpson, Craig Becker