EUGENE, Oregon – Iowa State star long-distance runners Wesley Kiptoo and Edwin Kiptoo were among the athletes providing highlighting moments on the opening night of the new Hayward Field after they finished 1-2 in the men’s 10,000m on Friday night at the 2021 Hayward Premiere.
Dominating Hayward Premiere 10,000m Runs
Kiptoo finished the night on top after crossing the finishing line in a time of 27:58.10 with his teammate Kurgat following home in second place with a personal best time of 27:58.33. The night’s finishing times are the top two NCAA DI marks in the country this season. The times are the seventh and eighth-best overall performers on the world 2021 list.
The Iowa State pair, along with Portland’s Stan Niesten, ran a steady opening 4000m as they were paced by Oregon’s NCAA indoor mile champion Cooper Teare, who did an excellent job before stepping off the track. After that, the race became a three-horse battle between Kiptoo, Kurgat, and Niesten before the Cyclone duo moved away from the Pilots’ representative.
How To Watch 2021 Hayward Premiere Free
Kurgat, the 2019 NCAA Cross Country champion led with a mile to go, but Kiptoo, who won the 2021 NCAA Indoor Championships 5000m, took over the contest with 1,000m remaining as they continued to drop negative splits in search of a fast time. With one lap left, the pair covered the previous 400m in 63.9 seconds.
The two championship runners were able to successfully navigate around the traffic on the busy track as they lapped other competitors while impressively running under 61 seconds on the final lap en route to laying down the fastest collegiate marker so far this season.
For his effort on the night, Kurgat improved his previous personal best big-time from 29:31.98 and moved way up the ladder to No. 2 in the 10000m in ISU history for the event.
Patrick Dever of Tulsa finished third in 28:28.13 with Christian Ricketts of Southern Utah taking fourth with 28:40.62 and BYU’s Connor Weaver following home fifth at 28:41.30.
Niesten, who ran with the early pack before being dropped, faded in the end to 24th in 29:17.56.
Glen Andrews is one of World-Track main writers for long distance and marathon running. Andrews, who competed in cross country during his High School and college years finds passion covering these events. He's also run a few marathons in his time, and still hopes to qualify for Boston.
