Kemboi gives Cyclones fans something to cheer about

AMES - Edward Kemboi knew during the entire race where he wanted to make his move.

The defending national and Big 12 champion sat back in third place throughout Sunday's 800-meter run at the Big 12 Championships waiting for the right time. The senior surged ahead of Baylor's Brandon Moore with 100 meters to go, flashing seven fingers for each of his conference titles as he crossed the finish line.

'I just wanted to add the title to my resume,” Kemboi, the lone ISU champion on the weekend, said. 'I didn't want to disappoint my fans, Cyclone fans. I've been thinking about it for a long time and my dream came true today.”

Kemboi's 800-meter time of 1:48.42 capped his seven Big 12 titles - three outdoor and four indoor - at his first and only home outdoor meet. Senior Patrick Peterson finished third in 1:50.53.

The Eldoret, Kenya native faced strong headwinds down the homestretch, but talking strategy with assistant Jeremy Sudbury had Kemboi more than prepared. Seeing a large contingent of people in the stands didn't hurt Kemboi's motivation either.

'Seeing a lot of people like this just gives me a lot of confidence,” Kemboi said. 'Every time I go to the track and see a lot of Cyclone fans, I'm like, ‘OK, I'm not going to let them down.'”

'When I got to the back stretch, the wind was tough and Edward got around me,” Peterson said. 'He was waving at me to try and go with him, but I went out a little strong and I just didn't have it. Thank goodness he did.”

The Iowa State men finished tied for eighth with Oklahoma State at 55 points, while the women's squad also was eighth with 50 points. Texas swept the team championships with 121.5 points and 139 points for the women and men, respectively.

Senior sprinter Kendra White nabbed three team points for her sixth-place performance in the 400-meter dash. She ran to a 53.41 finish while Courtney Okolo of Texas won in 51.55.

White scored a personal best of 52.53 in Saturday's preliminaries and followed that up with her second-best time on Sunday.

'I held my composure and did the best I could to stay with them,” White said. 'I think it was good because yesterday I ran a PR and coming off that and my body being sore, to run my second fastest time, it was a good one.”

The Cyclones put 26 medalists on the podium during the weekend, including high jumper Marine Vallet. The sophomore finished third, clearing 5-feet, 11.25 inches and is the second-best high jumper in ISU history.

Brian Biekert was third in the men's 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:07.44. Abby Caldwell grabbed a fourth-place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase in 10:46.07.

The Cyclones also placed three on the podium in the 400-meter hurdles. Derek Jones (52.75) and Kris Brander (53.73) placed fourth and sixth, respectively, for the men. Alyssa Gonzalez was fifth in 1:00.65.

The women's 5,000-meter run saw Perez Rotich (17:02.94), Caldwell (17:03.23) and Erin Hooker (17:04.50) finish fifth, seventh and eighth, respectively.

l Comments: montzdylan@gmail.com