Pollard eases into first 10K, Brown wins Drake 5K title for Iowa State

DES MOINES - Thomas Pollard paid no attention to the lap count.

Pollard is no stranger to thinking-man races, but this was something different. The Iowa State freshman wanted to go out and ease into his first-career 10,000-meter run. The place in which he finished was Pollard's secondary thought.

'You can't count laps, but you also don't want to fall asleep,” Pollard said. 'In practice the coaches were always stressing to be patient and relax. You just want to make it as easy as possible because it's going to hurt in the end.”

Pollard, who is red-shirting his first season in Ames, competed unattached and finished 10th in the 10,000 meters in 30:31.73 at the distance carnival of the Drake Relays Thursday. The mark was under the world standard, which qualifies him for the USATF Junior Outdoor Championships this summer.

Pollard, a decorated prep runner at Gilbert and the son of ISU athletics director Jamie Pollard, won a gold medal with the Team USA Junior National Team in Venezuela in March - he was the first American to finish the 8,000-meters and clocked in at 26:14.72. He said the experiences he's had during his red-shirt year have all been useful for when he competes for the Cyclones next fall.

'Right now it's just focusing on building a big base and just work hard,” Pollard said. 'Put in the work so come fall, I can do my best to help out the team any way I can.”

Iowa State sophomore Bethanie Brown won the women's 5,000-meter run in 16:25.19, making her move to the front with three laps to go. Brown led the pack for the final two laps and is the first ISU runner to win the Drake Relays 5K since Lisa Koll in 2008.

'I was just kind of feeling like I wanted to make a move,” Brown said. 'I started feeling like making a move six laps out, but I thought that was maybe a little ambitious so I thought I'd let it go until I was like, ‘OK, I've got to go now.'”

Cornell sophomore Abrah Masterson was fifth in the 10,000-meter run in 35:05.62. The Division III defending outdoor national champion sat out the indoor season with a stress fracture in her foot that was confirmed in January, but resumed training in March.

Masterson said the lower mileage training to ease her back into competition has put her on a good track to end the season well.

'I saw the times (of her 10K competitors) on the sheet before coming in and I just told myself I belong here and I'm just going to go out there and do what I love,” Masterson said. 'I love to run so either way I get to be out here and that's an honor in itself.”

Northern Iowa senior Rachel Peth took third in the heptathlon with 4,948 points. The reigning MVC outdoor champion - eighth at Drake last season - was the highest-finishing attached athlete behind Heather Miller Koch (5,796) and Sarah Chauchard (5,509).

Iowa State freshman Emma Whigham finished sixth with 4,753 points and UNI sophomore Lauren Frederick was eighth with 4,589 points in the field of 18 athletes.

UNI senior Paige Knodle withdrew from the event Wednesday, competing in only the 100-meter hurdles portion.

Iowa State freshman Wyatt Rhoads was fifth in the decathlon with 6,109 points while UNI freshman Austin Heitland was sixth and scored 5,951. Three athletes in the nine-man field did not finish the competition. Doane's Kale Wolken won with 7,504 points.

The Cyclones got a pair of top-eight finishes in the women's unseeded 800-meter run by way of freshman Erinn Stenman-Fahey (2:09.85) and sophomore Evelyne Guay (2:10.17). Stenman-Fahey led more than a lap of the race before being overtaken on the homestretch of the final lap. Katie Wetzstein of South Dakota won in 2:08.94.

Iowa's men's 6,400-meter relay squad finished eighth in 17:00.30 while Wisconsin won the title in 16:39.51.

l Comments: montzdylan@gmail.com