Mile posts: Items on Wesley Kiptoo, Biya Simbassa, Alli Bookin-Nosbisch, Gable Sieperda, Ainsley Erzen, Riley Witt

Editor's note: The Mile Posts blog will only include professional distance runners or triathletes and top post-collegiate athletes with a tie to Iowa, as well as college distance runners who were born in Iowa and who went to a school in Iowa.

Let's call last week a false start on the college indoor season.

Many of the meets last weekend concerning Iowa teams were canceled because of a massive snowstorm that swept through the upper Midwest. There were some notable performances on the track, however, and will get to those in a minute. But the Aramco Houston Half Marathon Sunday takes top billing in this edition of the WEEKEND UPDATE after two former Iowa collegians finished among the best in a strong international field.

Former Iowa State NCAA indoor 5,000-meter champion Wesley Kiptoo, 24, finished second overall on a chilly morning in Houston on Sunday. The HOKA Northern Arizona Elite athlete from Flagstaff, Ariz., topped everyone except Ethiopia's Jemal Yimer in the 13.1-mile race. Kiptoo, the 2023 Falmouth Road Race champion, ran 1 hour, 43 seconds to finish just one second behind Yimer in a near-photo finish. Finishing two spots behind Kiptoo was former Sioux City North and Iowa Central Community College great Biya Simbassa. The 2023 Quad-City Times Bix 7 champion and Under Armour Dark Sky athlete also based in Flagstaff ran 1:00:45 and finished as the top American. This was the final prep race for Simbassa, who will compete at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Orlando, Fla., on Feb. 3.

Coming in 22nd and completing his prep race for the trials was former Ottumwa High and University of Iowa great Kevin Lewis. The Minnesota Distance Elite athlete, 30, from Richfield, Minn., ran 1:03:48.

Now to the Hawkeye Invitational on Saturday in Iowa City, where several meet records were set at the Hawkeye Indoor Track Complex. Taking down one of the records was Hawkeye junior and former Ottumwa prep great Alli Bookin-Nosbisch. Nosbisch ran the 600-meter Premier race in 1:29.13 to set the No. 6 time in NCAA Division I this season. Bookin-Nosbisch topped sophomore teammate and former Cedar Rapids Prairie runner Gabby Cortez by 1.53 seconds. Bookin-Nosbisch's twin sister, Grace, ended up fifth in 1:34.53. Grace also is a junior and Iowa athlete. Leading Northern Iowa was junior Sophia Jungling, a former Aplington-Parkersburg prep, in seventh in 1:35.5.

In the men's 1-mile Premier event, Iowa State senior Gable Sieperda eclipsed the former meet record while taking runner-up honors. The former Central Lyon-GLR prep ran 4:04.98, the 14th-best time in the NCAA this season. Sieperda was topped only by his junior teammate Silas Winders, who ran a new meet record of 4:02.27. Leading the host Hawkeyes was sophomore Will Ryan in 10th place. The former Dowling Catholic prep from Waukee ran 4:12.73.

Taking runner-up honors in the women's 1-mile Premier race was junior and former Sioux City Heelan prep Amber Aesoph of Iowa. Aesoph ran 4:52.74 to trail only Bradley's Trixie Wraith (4:46.60). Northern Iowa junior Emma Hoins, a former Waverly-Shell Rock and Hawkeye Community College athlete, was third in 4:54.46. Iowa senior and former Mount Pleasant prep Abby Ryon ran 5:03.68 for sixth. Sophomore teammate Aleah Tenpas, a former Johnston prep, ran a new best of 5:05.17 for seventh.

The 600-meter Premier event featured some of the best competition and didn't disappoint. Northern Iowa junior and former Calamus-Wheatland prep Chase Knoche ran a new personal best of 1:18.07 to place third. That time was under the meet record. Iowa State junior Darius Kipyego set a new meet record of 1:17.58.

Winning the men's 800-meter Premier event was Northern Iowa sophomore and former Earlham athlete Jayden Dickson. Dickson ran 1:53.94 to top Iowa sophomore and former Western Dubuque prep Eli Nauman. Running unattached, Nauman was timed in 1:54.40.

Iowa State junior Quinton Orr, after running the mile event, returned to the track just over an hour later to cover the 3,000 Premier event in second place in 8:29.43. He is a former Humboldt prep.

Moving to the Arkansas Invitational on Friday, where Arkansas sophomore Ainsley Erzen finished fourth in the women's 1,000 in 2:43.68. Erzen is a former Carlisle prep great. The winner was Shafiqua Maloney of Saint Vincent in 2:41.22.

A former Iowa prep took a victory while two other Iowa natives grabbed runner-up honors at the Graduate Classic hosted by Nebraska at the Bob Devaney Sports Center. Northwest Missouri State sophomore Riley Witt, a former Saint Ansgar prep standout, claimed victory in the men's mile in 4:11.71. That time is good for No. 6 in NCAA Division II. Bearcats redshirt sophomore Nate Mueller ran 4:14.81 for second. The former ADM (Adel) prep and Iowa State transfer owns the No. 16 in Division II.

Former Sioux City North prep star Gabe Nash, a redshirt freshman for the Cornhuskers, ran a new best of 1:52.26 for the men's 800. Nash trailed only junior teammate Niko Schultz (1:51.55).

Claiming victory in the women's 3,000 in Terre Haute, Ind., on Friday was former Southeast Polk prep Mattison Plummer. The Illinois State junior covered the distance in 9:59.04 to top teammate Viviana Sanfilippo by .63 of a second. The event was part of the Coughlan/Malloy Cup.

Liberty University junior Marie Hostetler ran in a pair of events at the Virginia Tech Invitational on Saturday. The former Mid-Prairie of Wellman prep ran 9:59.15 to place fourth in the 3,000. Hostetler also grabbed eighth in the mile in 5:10.50.

Northern Arizona University freshman and former Iowa City High prep Ford Washburn made his debut for the Lumberjacks at the Axe 'Em Open in Flagstaff on Friday. Washburn clocked a 4:19.90 effort in the men's mile for eighth place.

GOING BACK: At Ironman 70.3 Pucon in Chile on Jan. 8, former Johnston prep and Iowa Central athlete Tyson Wieland finished eighth among the professional men. The Runablaze Iowa athlete team coordinator covered the 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike and 13.1-mile run in 4:10:02. The Des Moines man ranked 14th among all men in the swim after a 27:24 time. He was 13th among all men in the bike after a 2:19:48. And he owned the eighth-best time in the run after a 1:18:29 effort. The winner was American Sam Long in 3:46:31.

At the Walt Disney World Marathon, former Iowa State standout Samantha (Bluske) Palmer finished third overall among all women on Jan. 7. The University of Florida distance coach now based in Gainesville ran 2:53:48. The winning time was 2:48:08.

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 Wesley Kiptoo, Biya Simbassa, Alli Bookin-Nosbisch, Gable Sieperda, Ainsley Erzen, Riley Witt, Mattison Plummer