Alexina (Wilson) Teubel gave herself an early birthday present with a victory at the Portland Track Festival on Sunday, June 15.
The Northern Iowa head cross country coach and assistant track coach nearly set a new personal record in the 1,500 High Performance race in Oregon. Teubel gained the standard for the U.S. Championships with a 4:05.99 time, which is just .2 of a second off her PR set on June 3, 2023, at the Music City Track Carnival in Nashville.
The former Lisbon/Mount Vernon prep star leads off this edition of the WEEKEND UPDATE of the best performances by Iowa-based collegiate and postcollegiate distance runners and triathletes.
Teubel won the race on June 15, one day before her birthday, by nearly two seconds over Claire Yerby of the NoContext TC team. Teubel needed to run 4:09 to gain the U.S. standard. The World Athletics Championship standard that Teubel needs is 4:01.50.
The previous day, past Iowa State All-American Gable Sieperda set a new personal record in finishing second in the High Performance 3,000 steeplechase. The Fitness Sports Distance Project team member was timed in 8:20.95 to finish 7.31 seconds behind Isaac Updike of the Under Armour Dark Sky team. The former Central Lyon-GLR athlete, with that performance, is just 5.95 seconds off the standard for the world championships in September. He was competing in heat 1. In heat 2, former Wartburg College national runner-up Christopher Collet of the Rhode Island Track Club took 21st in 8:49.46.
Former Iowa State 13-time Big 12 Conference champion Cailie (Logue) Hughes picked up fourth in the 10,000 High Performance race. The Minnesota Distance Elite sponsored by Puma ran 32:28.18 in a race won by Abby Nichols of the HOKA NAZ Elite squad in 31:52.94.
Former Iowa All-Big Ten performer Mallory Lindaman grabbed fourth in the 800 High Performance competition. The Tracksmith athlete who is a Davenport Assumption grad ran 2:03.71 while competing in the fastest heat 1. U.S. Olympian Raevyn Rogers was the winner in 2:00.45.
Will have more from Portland later, but moving to the NCAA Division I Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon, from June 11-14, where Arkansas sophomore star Paityn Noe earned two first-team All-American honors. The Iowa 5K record holder when she ran at Ballard (Huxley), Noe ran a new best of 31:36.91 in the 10,000 on Thursday, June 12. The winner was New Mexico freshman Pamela Kosgei in a new championship record of 31:17.82. The top five finishers all topped the meet record of 31:46.09 set by Florida’s Parker Valby just last year.
Noe shattered the Arkansas record in the 10,000 by more than 20 seconds. The previous mark was 31:56.84 set by Dominique Scott in 2016. Noe’s previous best was 31:59.22 set earlier this season.
Two nights later, Noe picked up a sixth-place finish in the 5,000 final in 15:35.81. Kosgei grabbed another national title after running a strategic race in 15:33.96. Noe also owns the Arkansas school record in the 5,000 (15:11.27).
Two other former Iowa preps competed in the finals. Iowa senior and graduate student Alli Bookin-Nosbisch picked up second-team All-American honors in the 800 in her NCAA Championships debut. The former Ottumwa runner finished sixth in heat 2 of the 800 on June 12 in 2:03.78. She needed to run faster than 2:01.07 to advance to the final. Bookin-Nosbisch becomes the Hawkeyes’ first All-American in the event since Kay Stormo picked up first-team honors in 1982. Bookin-Nosbisch ends her career as Iowa’s record holder in the indoor and outdoor 800.
“Alli (Bookin-Nosbisch) had an awesome season,” Iowa Director of Track and Field Joey Woody said. “She has had an amazing career here with multiple podium finishes in the Big Ten Championships. I am so happy that she finished her career as an All-American.”
Iowa State junior Quinton Orr also made his NCAA Championships debut and the Humboldt grad took 20th overall in the 3,000 steeplechase semifinals to earn honorable mention All-American honors on June 11. The redshirt junior clocked 8:44.02 and was 11th in heat 1. His teammate, freshman Joash Ruto, posted the top qualifying time of 8:22.94 and he finished fourth in the final two days later in 8:20.47.
Changing to the roads, where several former Iowa collegians were competing in the 51st Steamboat Classic in Peoria, Illinois, as part of the USATF 4 Mile Championships on June 14. Former Iowa State and Syracuse four-time All-American Amanda Vestri was in the mix for the women’s professional win before Taylor Roe dropped in a 4:25 pace over the final five-block stretch to the finish line. Vestri, a ZAP Endurance team athlete based in Boone, North Carolina, settled for second place in 20:02.
“This race was a fun and challenging way to test my closing speed and get more familiar in a tactical race setting,” Vestri told a USATF reporter.
Seven-time Loras College NCAA champion Kasandra Parker, just about a month after breaking her clavicle, returned to racing with a strong finish. The Crown Running athlete who just completed a season helping coach at Hawkeye Community College in Waterloo took sixth in 21:42.
Former Iowa Central Community College and Sioux City North great Biya Simbassa took third place in the men’s pro competition in 18:07. The Asics athlete who set the American 10K road racing record earlier this year in Tokyo was in a four-man battle in the last mile. Alex Maier produced a sub-4-minute mile to finish and win in 18:03. Simbassa, now based in Flagstaff, Arizona, took third in 18:07, one second behind Casey Clinger. Simbassa picked up a bonus for finishing first at two miles.
Former Wartburg and Dubuque Hempstead athlete Jessica Hruska picked up a USATF Masters championship. The Crown Running athlete residing in Dubuque dominated the competition for women 40 and over, cruising to a win by about 200 meters in 24:48, a 6:12 pace. Hruska, 45, won by 49 seconds over Kara Parker.
In the Open race, former Center Point-Urbana prep standout Myles Bach was the winner in 19:59. Bach, now in Lyndon, Kansas, ran 19:59 to win by 24 seconds.
Two other Iowans ran strong times in the masters men’s competition. Michael Mallon, 59, of Davenport averaged 5:51 pace while finishing 14th overall. John Prineas, 56, of Iowa City was 13 seconds behind Mallon in 16th.
Crossing over to triathlon, where former Buena Vista University student and professor Matt Hanson finished fifth in the Ironman Cairns pro men’s event on June 15. The resident of Castle Rock, Colorado, covered the 2.4-mile swim in 55:30, the 112-mile bike in 4:30:59 and the marathon in 2:30:21 for a total time of 8:01:13. Hanson picked up $5,000. The winner was fellow American Matthew Marquardt in 7:50:41.
“… pretty happy to work my way up into the mix after a sub par swim and a pretty terrible bike,” Hanson wrote on Instagram. “Wind made for a choppy swim and then my back locked up pretty bad about 75 minutes into the bike due to the head winds. Thankfully the back settled down as soon as I got upright and I was able to find a good stride straight away. Mixed feeling on the day, but walking away feeling content.”
Former University of Iowa swimmer Justin Metzler finished eighth at Ironman 70.3 Boulder in Colorado on June 14. Metzler covered the 1.2-mile swim in 23:45, the 56-mile bike in 1:59:03 and the half marathon in 1:20:00. He finished in 3:46:26. Former Johnston prep and Iowa Central athlete Tyson Wieland of the Runablaze Iowa team took 31st in 4:08:15. The winner was Australia’s Sam Appleton in 3:35:59.
Shifting back to Portland, where former Iowa resident Stan Linton finished 14th in the 10,000 High Performance race on June 14. The Gulf Winds TC member ran 28:59.65 in a race won by Chris Maxon of the High Point AC team in 28:19.17.
Former Iowa Hawkeye Chase Lovercheck competed in the 800 High Performance event on June 15 and was 36th overall in 1:57.07.
GOING BACK ONE WEEK: A Diamond League Rome 5,000 meters on the track June 6 was like the final of an Olympic final, with big names lining up everywhere. Sixteen-time Iowa state champion and 2016 Olympian Shelby Houlihan settled for 10th place in 14:45.29. The world indoor silver medalist who ran for Sioux City East was second in the Drake Relays mile in April. Also breaking 15 minutes in 16th place was Dowling Catholic grad and two-time Olympian Karissa Schweizer. The six-time NCAA champion at Missouri was one of 16 runners to break 16 minutes. The Swoosh TC team ended up 16th in 14:56.38. The winner was Kenya’s Beatrice Chebet in a meet record and world-leading 14:03.69.
Vestri started back-to-back race weekend efforts by competing at the Mastercard New York Mini 10K on June 7. Vestri produced a new personal-best time of 31:20 for the roads while placing sixth. Another former Cyclone All-American, Annie Frisbie of the Minnesota Distance Elite squad, took 12th in 32:05. The winner was Kenya’s Hellen Obiri, the 2023 champion of the New York City Marathon, in 30:44.
Back to the track, where six-time NJCAA champion Adva Cohen broke her own Israeli 3,000 steeplechase record at the FBK Games in Hengelo, the Netherlands, on June 9. The Under Armour Dark Sky squad athlete ran 9:24.46 for sixth while erasing her 9:27.79 set at Bydgoszcz, Poland, on May 30. Cohen ran for Iowa Central before having a standout career at New Mexico. Peruth Chemutai of Uganda took the win in 9:07.79.
In Rehlingen, Germany on June 8, former Drake University Missouri Valley Conference champion Adam Fogg kicked off his outdoor season with a ninth-place effort. Fogg, now with the Under Armour Mission Run Baltimore Distance team, ran 3:41.02 in a race won by Poland’s Filip Ostrowski in 3:38.38.
Back home in Iowa, current Iowa Central athlete Mohamed Dahmouch was the winner of the men’s Elite Mile at the Belmont Mile at Pleasant Valley High School in the Quad Cities. Dahmouch ran 4:03.16 to win by 3.14 seconds. Riley Simpson, who finished his senior season at Iowa State this spring, took third in 4:11.52. Former Monticello and Wartburg runner Carter Cruise took fifth in 4:13.97. Steve Froeschle of the Running Wild Elite squad grabbed seventh in 4:27.65. Froeschle is a Davenport Assumption and St. Ambrose grad. Matt Lorenz of the Runablaze team was next in 4:28.65. Ean Caskey of the RWE team was the top masters runner and ninth overall in 4:30.96. He is a former Iowa Conference champion with Cornell College.
Sarah Bakula, a former Waukon and Simpson College runner, set a new PR by taking second in the women’s race in 5:04.73. Bakula competes for Runablaze. The winner was Alyna Thibault in 5:01.10.
Possibly the last Ironman Des Moines event was held downtown on June 8. Former Denver High and Wartburg athlete Curren Matthias was the top Iowan in the men’s 70.3 competition. Matthias covered the 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike and half marathon run in 4:15:21 for sixth. Eric Prilipp, an Iowa State and University of Dubuque grad now living near Dubuque, took eighth in 4:17:22. Jesse Veenstra, a former Dordt University standout who now teaches at the university, was next in 4:20:26. The overall winner was Tyler Tanko in 4:03:16. Carly Schrom was the women’s winner in 4:36:14.
Wrapping up with trail running, where former Iowa State All-American Dan Curts picked up a runner-up finish at the Cirque Series Cannon Mountain race on June 7. The resident of Lebanon, New Hampshire ran 56:02.23 for an 8:37 average in Franconia, N.H. The winner was Remi Leroux of Waterloo, Quebec, in 55:11.42.
MISSING A TOP DISTANCE RUNNER OR TRIATHLETE?: Let me know at bergeson@registermedia.com.
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This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Mile posts: Items on Alexina Teubel, Gable Sieperda, Paityn Noe, Amanda Vestri, Biya Simbassa, Matt Hanson, Shelby Houlihan
Reporting by Lance Bergeson, Des Moines Register / Des Moines Register
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
