Lance Bergeson, Des Moines RegisterWed, February 4, 2026 at 1:42 AM UTC·10 min readTyler Schermerhorn knocked off a prominent name atop the Wartburg College's all-time list in the indoor 3,000.
The Ankeny Centennial product claimed victory at the Friday Knight Lights meet in Waverly on Jan. 30 in 8 minutes, 12.34 seconds while improving from No. 7 on the Knights' program list. The 2024 NCAA runner-up in the 10,000 meters dropped Christopher Collet, another NCAA runner-up, down to No. 2 on the list. Collet ran the 15 laps in 8:12.92 in 2023.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementSchermerhorn leads off this edition of the WEEKEND UPDATE of the best performances by Iowa-based collegiate and post collegiate distance runners and triathletes.
Schermerhorn moved up to 10th on the NCAA Division III national list. He topped reigning American Rivers Conference cross country champion Isaiah Hammerand, who took second in 8:14.45, but missed moving up from fourth place on the all-time list. The Western Dubuque grad and Knights junior ran 8:14.16 a season ago. Taking third for Wartburg was senior and former Center Point-Urbana prep Eli Larson in 8:21.77. Larson stayed at No. 9 on the Knights' all-time list.
Simpson College sophomore James Johnson picked up fourth in 8:22.01, a time which moves him to second all-time in Storm history. Johnson competed for Marshalltown in high school. Michael Goodenbour, a former Cedar Falls and Wartburg runner, took sixth in 8:24.78. Knights senior Seth Bailey, who prepped at New London, ended up seventh in 8:25.98. Sophomore teammate Solomon Zaugg, a former Mediapolis prep, was next in 8:27.30.
Wartburg senior Haley Meyer also set a meet record with a win in the 800 meters. The former Kee (Lansing) athlete ran 2:13.99 to move to second on the NCAA Division III list. Meyer topped Cornell College senior Ava Claussen-Tubbs by 2.48 seconds. Claussen-Tubbs is an Anamosa product. Wartburg junior Hannah Ramsey, who competed for Iowa City Liberty High, was fourth in 2:18.44. Hawkeye Community College sophomore Mallori Jones gained the NJCAA standard after running 2:19.59 for fifth. Jones is a former BCLUW (Conrad) prep.Will return to the Wartburg meet, but moving to the East Coast. The 118th Millrose Games in New York lured many of the finest American and world track and field stars to the Armory on Feb. 1.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementKenyan Festus Lagat, a former Iowa State All-American, finished sixth in the featured Wanamaker Mile that concluded the day's events. Lagat, an Under Armour Mission Run Dark Sky athlete based in Flagstaff, AZ, ran 3:50.94 in a race won in 3:47:57 after an impressive final lap by 19-year-old Australian Cam Myers.
Former Iowa Big Ten champion Jenoah McKiver was run down on the final homestretch of the 600-meter elite race by U.S. teen phenom Cooper Lutkenhaus. Lutkenhaus set the world under-20 record with a 1:14.15 time. McIver, who competed for Florida after starting at Iowa and is an On athlete, took runner-up honors in a new personal-best time of 1:14.77.
Another former Cyclone competed in the two-mile race on the 200-meter banked track. Edwin Kurgat, the 2019 NCAA cross country champion for Iowa State, claimed 10th in 8:11.89. He is an Under Armour Dark Sky athlete. American Cole Hocker took the win in 8:07.31.
Israel's Adva Cohen, who won six NJCAA titles competing for Iowa Central Community College, ended up 11th in the women's 3,000. The Under Armor Dark Sky runner clocked 8:58.85 as Alabama junior Doris Lemngole set a new NCAA record in 8:31.39.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementFormer Iowa Big Ten champion Mallory (King) Lindaman set a new personal record for 600 meters on the oversized 300-meter flat track at the University of Notre Dame's Loftus Center on Jan. 30. The Davenport Assumption grad won the event at the Meyo Invitational in 1:27.72 by holding off former teammate Gabby Cortez. Cortez, a former Cedar Rapids prep who is now a senior at Iowa, ran a new best of 1:27.89 for the distance. Lindaman's best for a regulation 200-meter track is a 1:28.75 at Iowa.
Lindaman also competed in the 800 the next day and the Tracksmith athlete finished fifth in 2:04.68. Cortez set another personal record while placing seventh in 2:04.79. The winner ran 2:02.20.
Hawkeye junior Carson Lane, a Johnston product, crushed his mile personal record in a fast race. Lane clocked 4:04.15, easily topping his previous best of 4:07.68 from last month, while taking seventh place. The winner ran 3:59.78.
Iowa teammate Hayden Kuhn, a junior, also set a new best for the 3,000 on the fast track. The Linn-Mar grad ran 8:02.98 for sixth overall in the fastest 3,000 field. Sophomore teammate Luke Knepp, a former Pleasant Valley athlete, ran 8:13.74 for 21st. Cameron Todd of Notre Dame set a new ACC record of 7:52.38 while taking the win.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIn the secondary 3,000 competition, Hawkeye junior and former Dowling Catholic prep Will Ryan clocked 8:17.49 for eighth. Sophomore teammate Miles Wilson, who competed for Cedar Rapids Kennedy, was two spots back in 8:18.11. The top time was 8:10.84.
Dubuque Hempstead grad Derek Leicht competed in both the 600 and 800 as well and came away with third place in the 600 in 1:19.59. The Iowa junior missed his PR by .27 of a second. Teammate Jackson Johnannes, a redshirt freshman who prepped at Cedar Rapids Prairie, ran a new best of 1:20.73 for 10th. Iowa redshirt sophomore Nicholas
Gorsich, another former Linn-Mar athlete, came in 11th in 1:21.42. Freshmate teammate Jashua Anglo, who competed at Johnston, was next to finish in 1:21.52. Iowa sophomore Caleb Levy won in 1:17.05.
The next day Leicht claimed ninth in the 800 in 1:51.04. He was just .12 of a second behind his PR set outdoors in Eugene, OR, a year ago. The top time was 1:45.99 by Indiana senior standout Camden Marshall.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementNorthern Iowa sophomore Colin Lillie set a new personal best while placing third in the 5,000. The Council Bluffs St. Albert grad ran 14:20.39 in a race won in 14:12.62.
Loras College redshirt freshman Keelee Leitzen grabbed seventh place in the secondary 800 with a new best of 2:10.72. Leitzen is a Dubuque Hempstead product who started her career at Iowa State. Iowa sophomore Clare Kelly, who ran for Van Meter, was next to finish in 2:10.91. Iowa true freshman Grace Boleyn, who competed for Pleasant Valley, ran 2:14.11 for 19th. The top time was 2:07.23.
Iowa junior Jalyssa Blazek, a former Turkey Valley (Jackson Junction) competitor, ran a new best of 4:55.39 in the mile for 16th place. The best time was 4:40.35.Sumner-Fredericksburg product Hillary Trainor, a Hawkeye sophomore, ran the 3,000 in 10:06.36 for 27th place. The winner ran 9:31.94.
An Iowa distance medley relay with Kelly on the 800 leg and former Dubuque Hempstead runner Julia Gehl on the mile anchor finished sixth in 11:27.97. Winner Minnesota ran 11:03.78.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementOklahoma State freshman Kadence Huck, who prepped at Nashua-Plainfield, placed 11th in the non-invitational 800 at the Razorback Invitational in Fayetteville, AR. Huck ran a best of 2:08.55 in her debut at the distance. The winner ran 2:06.45. Huck also claimed 22nd in 4:50.79 in her first attempt at the mile. The best time was 4:25.11 by Oregon senior Silan Ayyildiz.
Former Carlisle prep Ainsley Erzen helped lead the host Razorbacks to a runner-up finish in the DMRon the 200-meter banked track. Erzen ran the leadoff 1,200 as Arkansas ran 10:51.43, 3.59 seconds behind Oklahoma State.
A few Iowa natives on the Iowa State team competed at the DeLoss Dodds Invitational at Manhattan, KS. Senior Bella Heikes, a Johnston grad, finished fifth in the women's mile invite in 4:49.73. Her freshman teammate, Betty Kipkore, won in 4:37.32.
In the regular mile, Cyclone redshirt freshman Olivia Verde, another former Dragon runner, was sixth in 5:01.28. Teammate Mya Trober won in 4:53.98. Verde also took 11th in the 3,000 in 9:58.08 in a race won by Kipkore in 8:59.90.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIowa State redshirt freshman Tommy Tyynismaa came in 16th in the 800 on the 200-meter banked track. The North Tama product ran 1:53.45 in a competition won in 1:48.90.
Pros and collegians alike competed at the BU John Thomas Terrier Classic at the Boston University-Track & Tennis Center. Former Drake Bulldogs Isaac Basten and Adam Fogg squared off in the mile invite. Basten, a BAA team member based in Boston, got the best of his ex-British teammate by running 3:54.28 for ninth. He was less than a second off his indoor PR. Fogg, a UA Mission Run Baltimore member, ran 3:54.52 for 12th. Sam Ruthe of Nike won in 3:48.88.
Drake grad and Minnesota Distance Elite athlete Emilie Meyer improved significantly from her 2:08.19 winning time from the Cyclone Open the previous weekend. Meyer ran 2:05.97 for 17th in the 800-meter invite on the 200-meter banked track. Isabelle Boffey of Great Britain won in 1:57.43.
In the women's mile open competition, Bradley freshman Noelle Steines, who attended Calamus-Wheatland and Tipton, ran a new best of 4:48.47 for 26th. The top time was 4:38.01.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementFormer Cyclone Titus Winders, who also competes for MDE, ran 8:06.57 for 46th in the 3,000 open competition. The top time was 7:39.21 by Carson Williams.
Several Iowa collegians earned NAIA and NJCAA qualifying marks at the Washburn Open in Topeka, KS. St. Ambrose junior Dylan Grandon, a Johnston grad, gained the NAIA 'A' standard for indoor nationals with a fifth-place finish in the 800. Grandon ran 1:51.52 in an event won in 1:49.11 on the 200-meter banked track.
DMACC sophomore Eli Page, the NJCAA Division II cross country runner of the year, secured the NJCAA standard for the mile. The former Vinton-Shellsburg prep ran 4:15.20 for 24th place. Indian Hills Community College freshman Kohlby Newsom, who prepped at Winfield-Mount Union, ran 4:15.67 for 26th to gain the NJCAA standard. DMACC sophomore Zack Stoermer, who competed for Des Moines Lincoln, secured 43rd in 4:19.88. The top time was 4:03.56.
Iowa Western sophomore Alyssa Kulesa secured the NJCAA standard in the 800. The Treynor product ran 2:19.02 for 15th. Iowa Central sophomore Alivia Edens, who attended Tipton, gained the NJCAA standard after running 2:20.83 for 22nd. The best time was 2:12.04.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementMissouri Western grad student Abby Kinney took 18th in the 5,000. The former Waukee High prep ran 18:03.92. Kinney was one spot ahead of Indian Hills sophomore Tiffani Koonce, who did enough to earn the NJCAA standard. The former Prairie City-Monroe athlete ran 18:13.78. DMACC's Ava Manning, another Des Moines Lincoln grad, ran 22nd in 18:44.77 to gain the NJCAA standard. Iowa Western's Juliana Sakat won in 16:34.60.
NOTE: This blog will be UPDATED.
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This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Mile posts: Items on Tyler Schermerhorn, Festus Lagat, Jenoah McKiver, Mallory Lindaman, Gabby Cortez, Carson Lane
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