WT&F: A Champion Rises
Media Relations
AMES, Iowa- In front of a home crowd that filled the Lied Recreation-Athletic Center, Iowa State hurdler Rebecca Williams reserved her spot in Big 12 Conference history Saturday, winning the league 60-meter hurdle crown with a career-best time of 8.19 seconds. Williams paced Iowa State to a ninth-place team finish with 46 points. Texas A&M won the Big 12 team title with 141 points.
“Coming into this season this was my goal,” Williams said. “I wanted to break the Iowa State 60-meter hurdle record and finish among the top three in the conference. Winning a Big 12 title is beyond my expectations and it’s been an amazing year. I feel blessed to have won and I want to thank my coaches and teammates for pushing me to get here.”
Williams’ effort shattered the school record she set Friday (8.25) in the preliminary run and gave her the eighth-fastest hurdle time in the nation. With the win on Saturday the Ariz. native remains undefeated at home in her final indoor season.
“I am so incredibly proud of Rebecca,” said sprints and hurdles coach Scott Roberts. “It has been a long road to get here and she will remember this day for the rest of her life. Through all of the injuries and set backs we have had along the way, she has always maintained faith in herself and in goals we have wanted to accomplish. It all paid off today and she pulled through like the champion she is.”
In her first Big 12 Conference meet, freshman and Burlington native Jenna Caffrey had a stellar showing in the 60-meter hurdles. Caffrey finished fourth in a loaded field, crossing the line with a time of 8.44. Caffrey became the first freshman hurdler in Cyclone history to place in her Big 12 debut.
Competing in their final Big 12 indoor meet, seniors Sara Boisen and Jenny Mockler reached the awards podium. Mockler was paced in the 1,000-meter run by Baylor’s Nichole Jones, who ran a meet record time of 2:45.68. Mockler closed the gap on the last lap, finishing third. Mockler's time of 2:48.25. was a season best. Boisen scored fifth-place points for the Cyclones, smashing her 600-yard run season-best time by over a second. The West Des Moines native was clocked in 1:21.76.
Iowa State's Lisa Koll grabbed her second medal of Big 12 competition. The freshman earned fourth-place honors in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 9.40.28. On Friday, Koll had received a silver medal for her 16:31 performance in the 5,000-meter run.
"Lisa may be one of the most improved distance runners in the country and she has come a long way from where she was at in high school," said head coach Dick Lee. "Overall I was very pleased with Lisa's performance in both the 3,000 and the 5,000."
Cyclone jumper Agata Kosuda contributed points to the Cyclone team effort, finishing fourth in the triple jump. The junior recorded an indoor career best leap of 42-9 ½ in only her second competition this season. In Friday’s long jump, Kosuda earned eight-place with a leap of 19-2 ¾.
The Cyclones closed out the indoor Big 12 campaign with a seventh-place finish in the 4x400-meter relay that featured Williams, Caffrey, Boisen and Mockler for
ISU in a time of 3:44.21 to earn the team's final two points.
"Our kids performed very well this weekend and I was very pleased with their efforts," Lee said. "I really look forward to sending our kids to the NCAA national meet. We definitely improved from last year. Last season we had a lot of the same kids but a lot of them were wearing street clothes due to injury or redshirt and it made a huge difference today. We had a lot of people step up for us today both veterans and freshman."
After a weekend filled with personal records and Big 12 medals the Cyclone squad will look to continue success next week, playing host to the NCAA Qualifier Meet at the Lied Recreational Center.
