This may be a bit off the radar for many of the readers here, but it should be brought to everyone’s attention that five ISU athletes will be competing at the NCAA Track and Field Outdoor Championships starting today.  There won’t be much travel involved for the Clones, as the Championships are being held at Drake Stadium in Des Moines throughout this week.

Events on Wednesday are mostly preliminary events, but there is one final event on the track side of things, the women’s 10,000-meter run.  The Cyclones have two entries into the finals here, with Dani Stack and three-time All-American Betsy Saina, who finished 2nd and 3rd in the West regional to qualify for the finals.  That race will begin at 8:45 this evening.  Also on the women’s side, Kianna Elahi returns to the 400-meter hurdles championships after qualifying last year as well.  She is currently seeded 18th, and will run at 8:15.

For the men, freshman Edward Kemboi will be competing in the 800-meter run at 6:15, where he is seeded 7th.

The ISU runner to be sure to be sure to watch is three-time All-American Hillary Bor.  He is seeded 11th for the 3,000-meter steeplechase, which is easily the coolest running competition.  Seriously, hurdles and a water jump while running 3,000-meters?  Who is crazy enough to endure that much punishment?  It is no surprise that it can lead to epic fail. 

Anyway, Bor is looking to become just the second Cyclone to wrap up All-American honors 4 times in a single event, so you should catch the steeplechase prelims at 7:45.

Drake Stadium is as awesome of a venue as they come for track and field, and with it being right here in Des Moines, fans should get out there and give the stadium a little ISU home meet feel.  I’m going to try to get out there for at least one day, as Championships are ongoing through Saturday.  You can get tickets here, or catch the event on live stream or live results on NCAA.com.