Mile posts: Items on Tyrice Taylor, Aisha Ramone, Andrew Hutchinson, Ryan Harvey, Lily Campbell, Lexi Brown
Indian Hills Community College freshman Tyrice Taylor is now at the top of the heap for the 800 meters at the NJCAA level.
Taylor unseated his more noted Jamaican teammate, Rivaldo Marshall, to capture his first national championship at NJCAA outdoor track and field nationals in Hobbs, N.M., on Saturday. Taylor ran a school-record 1:46.94 to become the fourth Warriors athlete to win an 800 national title in the past two seasons. The native of Linstead, Jamaica, ran the fifth-best time in NJCAA history while topping South Plains sophomore Kimar Farquharson by .31 of a second and leads off this WEEKEND UPDATE of the best performances by Iowa-based collegiate and postcollegiate distance runners and triathletes. Taylor's time converts to a 1:46.58 for altitude.
Marshall, the defending national champion for the 800 outdoors, settled for third in 1:48.10. Marshall, a University of Iowa Hawkeyes signee from Kingston, Jamaica, ends his career with two national titles in the 800 last year, both indoors and outdoors, as well as a runner-up finish in the 800 at the indoor national meet in March.
Taylor had qualified for the final by running the third-best time, 1:51.06, in the prelims Friday. Marshall owned the fourth-best time of 1:51.29 in the prelims. Iowa Central Community College's Trevon Prince (15th, 1:54.33) and Iowa Western Community College's Steve Hines (16th, 1:54.56) led their teams in the prelims.
Another highlight at nationals came from Southeastern Community College freshman Aisha Ramone. The native of Kirtland, New Mexico, captured runner-up honors in the 3,000 steeplechase final Friday. Ramone ran 11:34.54, trailing only College of Southern Idaho's Audrey Camp, who ran 11:22.59. Ramone was the Region XI champion in the event.
Will return to the NJCAA meet, but it's time to shift to the Augustana Midwest Twilight Final Qualifier on Thursday in Rock Island, Ill. The meet offered Iowa collegians a last chance to gain entry into this weekend's NCAA Division III track and field outdoor nationals. And many took advantage of the opportunity to earn spots in the field or improve their qualifying times.
Dubuque University's Andrew Hutchinson cemented his spot at nationals by winning the 800 meters in 1:49.37. That time improved his spot to sixth in the qualifying order. Buena Vista University's Kyle Miller, a sophomore and former Carlisle prep, punched his ticket to nationals by placing third in 1:49.88. Miller qualified for nationals with the 10th-best time. Central College's Noah Jorgenson was fifth in 1:50.42, a time that landed the former Southeast (Sidney) prep into the nationals field. Jorgenson got in with the 20th-best time. Wartburg College junior Wyatt Schmidt didn't improve his time after running 1:53.22 for 13th, but the former Northeast of Preston athlete earned the final spot in the field of 22 with a 1:50.57 time earlier this season.
Loras College sophomore Ryan Harvey came in with a 3:47.97 time for the 1,500 meters and improved on that position with a 3:46.03 time that earned him a runner-up spot. Harvey enters nationals with the seventh-best time. Central senior Adam Sylvia vaulted all the way into the field by running 3:47.67. Sylvia improved 2.7 seconds to get into the field at nationals with the 19th-best time. Runablaze Iowa's Josh Evans, a former Linn-Mar great, was eighth in 3:47.96. Evans resides in Ankeny now. The winner was Wisconsin-Whitewater's Christian Patzka in 3:45.34.
Also grabbing a runner-up spot and knocking nearly two seconds off her season's best time in the 1,500 was Wartburg junior Lexi Brown. The former New London product ran 4:29.48, the No. 2 time in program history, to qualify for nationals with the 11th-best time. Loras graduate student Valerie Herbst also was sixth in 4:36.08. Herbst is a former Dubuque Wahlert prep. The winner was Wisconsin-Oshkosh's Amelia Lehman in 4:28.71.
Wartburg's Lily Campbell improved on her 800 seed time of 2:12.01 by running 2:10.91 and placing third. The former Waukee High standout moved into 11th on the nationals list and sixth on the Knights' all-time list for the distance. Former Western Dubuque prep and Loras freshman Elly Burds came through with a clutch performance, placing seventh in 2:12.17 to earn a spot at nationals. Burds qualified with the 21st-best time of 22 after knocking 1.73 seconds off her previous season best. The winner was Wisconsin-Oshkosh's Cyna Madigan in 2:10.39.
Loras graduate student Ellie Osterberger didn't improve her season-best time in the 3,000 steeplechase, but the former Dubuque Wahlert prep still made it to nationals with the 20th-best time. Osterberger was fourth in the race in 10:55.95. Osterberger got in to nationals with a 10:49.05 time. The winner was Adriana Crabtree of Illinois Wesleyan in 10:43.33.
Former Mount Mercy All-American Andrea Ertz of the Running Wild Elite team finished runner-up in the women's 5,000 in 17:47.28. Wartburg junior Natalie Paulson, a former Dallas Center-Grimes prep, was fifth in 18:00.18. The winner was Carthage's Katelyn Smith in 17:41.90.
Wartburg freshman Tyler Schermerhorn was the top Iowa collegian in the seeded 5,000, running 14:49.79 for third place. He is a former Ankeny Centennial prep. Junior teammate Ian Berry was fourth in 14:50.32. Knights sophomore and former Cedar Falls prep Michael Goodenbour was fifth in 14:51.50. Wartburg freshman and former Center Point-Urbana runner Eli Larson was seventh in 14:51.84. Running Wild Elite's Trevor Albert, a former Grand View standout and Cardinal (Eldon) prep, was eighth in 14:54.47.
Grinnell junior Brian Goodell, coming off three Midwest Conference championships the previous week, took runner-up honors in the 3,000 steeplechase in 9:11.40. Sam Mickelson, a former Grand View runner and competing unattached, was fifth in 9:13.77.
Moving back to the NJCAA nationals, where Iowa Central sophomore Zinash Valen finished fourth in the 10,000 final Friday in 40:10.97. Cloud County sophomore Lucy Ndungu was the champion in 38:12.10. Iowa Western's star sophomore, Mercy Biwott, did not finish.
Two Iowa teams scored in the 4x800 relay final Friday. The Iowa Western quartet of Chaz Brown, Hines, Kylan Willis and Mohammed Kowa ran 7:43.63 to place fifth. Iowa Central's relay of Trae Corby, Joseph Asashi Wright, Jaden Boots and Trevon Prince came across eighth in 7:48.24. Indian Hills, with Cole Reinders, Jorge Becerra, Roneldo Rock and Brody Lucas, were ninth in 7:51.81. The winner was South Plains in 7:33.54.
Kowa qualified for the 1,500 final Saturday after running 3:57.16, the eighth-best time, in the prelims Friday. Kowa couldn't land in the top eight, however, running 3:58.08 to place 10th in the final. The winner was Karim Belmahdi of Monroe College in 3:47.31.
Iowa Central appeared prime for some team points with its sophomore distance standout, Chloe Garcia-Grafing. Garcia-Grafing, after qualifying for the 1,500 final with the seventh-best prelim time of 4:59.78 Friday, didn't run the final Saturday due to an injury.
Iowa Western's Daniela Deer ran the 11th-best time in the 800 prelims, a 2:19.54 effort Friday, but did not qualify for the final.
Iowa Western's Jacinto Gaspar was the top Iowa collegian in the 5,000 final Saturday after placing 12th in 15:15.37. The winner was Colby's Sanele Masondo in 14:28.80.
Hawkeye Community College sophomore D'artagnon Beaver was the top Iowa collegian in the 3,000 steeplechase final Friday after clocking 10:06.25. He was 17th. The winner, Colby's Ricardo Barbosa, ran 9:08.70. Iowa Central's Brady Hogan took 16th in the 10,000 final Friday in 33:44.80 in a warm race won by Masondo in 30:26.35.
The Iowa Western men ended up taking fourth in the team race with 55.5 points. Iowa Central was eighth with 40, while Indian Hills was 11th with 31. New Mexico and South Plains, which tied for the NJCAA indoor team title, tied again for this title with 100 points.
The Iowa Western women grabbed fifth in the team race with 64 points. Iowa Central was 11th with 21. New Mexico claimed the team title with 130.5 points.
Finishing with road racing and trails, where Running Wild Elite's Devin Allbaugh, 33, was a winner at the Sunderbruch Bacon & Beer trail race Saturday in Davenport for the fourth time. The former Pleasant Valley prep broke his own 10K course record by running 38:39. Runablaze's Phil Young, 37, of Davenport was runner-up in 41:54. Running Wild's Tim Hyde of Davenport set the new 5K course record by over a minute after running 23:00.
Former Davenport Assumption prep Dan Froeschle of the RWE team won the Run for the Rock 10K at Arsenal Island in Davenport in 31:39.
At the Marion Arts Festival Half Marathon Saturday, RWE's Brett Rosauer was the overall winner in 1:14:31. Rosauer, 32, of Iowa City was a victor by nearly three minutes. Iowa senior and former Linn-Mar prep Madeline Block, 23, of Marion was the women's winner and third overall in 1:19:43.
Former Mount Mercy and Linn-Mar runner Deanna Newhouse, 24, of Cedar Rapids was the women's 5K winner and fourth overall in 19:10. She was 11 seconds ahead of Melanie Hamilt, 27, of Coralville.
Finally, Runablaze's Jen Van Otterloo was the overall winner of the Orange City Tulip Festival 5K Saturday in 17:44. Van Otterloo, 36, of Sioux Center won by nearly three minutes.
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This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Mile posts: Items on Tyrice Taylor, Aisha Ramone, Andrew Hutchinson, Ryan Harvey, Lily Campbell, Lexi Brown
