AMES, Iowa – The Iowa State cross country teams prepare for their return to the course after enjoying an abundance of success in 2023. Both the Cyclone men and women posted team finishes in the top 20 at the NCAA Championships.

“I am looking forward to the Fall 2024 Cross Country Season as our returning athletes are coming off a historic spring,” said Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Jeremy Sudbury. Women’s Cross Country Head Coach Amy Rudolph shared similar sentiments, stating “I am really excited for the 2024 Cross Country season and opening things up with our home meet at the end of August. Our schedule this year really sets us up to do well in championship season with the goal being the national meet.”

Last season, the men earned their eighth ever top-5 finish at the NCAA Championships in Virginia, finishing fifth as Sanele Masondo and Rodgers Rotich earned individual All-America status. The women were 20th, led by fifth-year seniors Madelynn Hill, Dana Feyen and Janette Schraft.

“After losing three of our top five from last year, I am looking forward to seeing our upperclassmen lead this team with a very deep sophomore and freshman class,” said Rudolph. “We will again see many changes within our top seven throughout the season which gives us an advantage having that kind of depth.”

This season, ISU once again opens the year hosting the Cyclone Preview in Ames. The meet takes place on Friday, August 30 at the Cyclone Cross Country Course. Last season, the Iowa State men’s and women’s squads dominated the rest of the fields to take both team titles in front of a sea of Cardinal & Gold. It is the second time in as many seasons that Ames will host a regular season cross country meet. ISU had not hosted a regular season meet since the 2012 Iowa Intercollegiate prior to last year.

“The Cyclone Preview at home this year will be a great chance to engage with our fans and run on our beautiful course, we hope to have a nice crowd come out and support our athletes,” said Sudbury.

More details on the Cyclone Preview, including parking and fan information, can be found here.

Iowa State will also prep for the 2024 NCAA Championships, held this year in Madison, Wisconsin twice with the Nuttycombe Invitational and the Wisconsin Pre-National meet. The Cyclones will make the trek to Madison first on September 27 for Nuttycombe before returning October 19 for Pre-Nationals.

“We are going all-in on getting to know the National Course in Madison, Wisconsin by racing there twice in the regular season,” said Sudbury. “I’ve always felt if you can learn how to run that course it’ll pay huge dividends in the post-season.”

Following Pre-Nationals, the Cyclones will travel to Waco to compete at the Big 12 Championships on November 1. Last season the women finished third behind then-top 10 squads BYU and Oklahoma State while the men were fourth overall. Hill, Schraft, Maelle Porcher and Said Mechaal all earned All-Conference honors with top-15 individual finishes.

After a two-week break, Iowa State will return to action on November 15 at the NCAA Midwest Regional held in Peoria, Illinois. Last season, both the men’s and women’s squads finished second in Stillwater to earn automatic bids to the NCAA Championships. The season will conclude with the national championship meet, held on November 23 in Madison, Wisconsin.

Iowa junior forward Hannah Stuelke says the Hawkeye women are motivated to exceed expectations next season. The Hawks lost several key players from a team that made it to back-to-back national title games. Stuelke is coming off a sophomore season in which she averaged 14 points per game and was named second team All-Big Ten.

Stuelke envisions a similar role on a new-look team. Summer workouts are underway in Iowa City.

Stuelke shot better than 62 percent from the field last season.

Class 3A

Region 2

PCM 1, Clarke 0
Clarinda 10, Atlantic 7

Class 4A

Region 2

North Polk 8, Mason City 0
Gilbert 11, Webster City 6

Region 3

Dallas-Center Grimes 15, Carroll 0
Perry 4, Storm Lake 3

Region 4

ADM 9, Indianola 2
Winterset 10, Glenwood 0

Region 6

Norwalk 7, Ballard 0
Pella 3, Bondurant-Farrar 2

Class 1A

Substate 2 – District 3

Remsen St. Marys 3, Woodbine 2

Substate 2 – District 4

Coon Rapids-Bayard 11, CAM 0

Substate 7 – District 13

Lynnville-Sully 3, North Mahaska 0

Substate 7 – District 14

Ankeny Christian 5, Earlham 3

Substate 8 – District 15

Tri-Center 4, Lenox 3

Substate 8 – District 16

Bedford 2, Southwest Valley 0

Class 2A

Substate 6 – District 11 

Des Moines Christian 2, Pella Christian 0

Substate 6 – District 12

Pleasantville 8, Interstate-35  1

Substate 7 – District 13

Chariton 6, Van Meter 5

Substate 7 – District 14

OABCIG 8, Kuemper Catholic 4

Substate 8 – District 15

Underwood 11, Ridge View 0

Substate 8 – District 16

Clarinda 5, Shenandoah 2

Iowa State men’s basketball coach T.J. Otzelberger is glad the Big-12 focused on regional rivalries in next season’s schedule. Of the five teams the Cyclones play twice next season in the league race two of them are Kansas State and Kansas.

Otzelberger says they tried to balance the schedule from a competitive standpoint as much as possible.

Otzelberger says the new 20-game conference schedule will be demanding.

Last season the Cyclones did not play at Kansas and senior guard Curtis Jones is looking forward to playing in Phog Allen Field House.

Jones says the Big-12 schedule will be even more demanding next season with the addition of Arizona, Arizona State, Utah and Colorado.

Will Power finally broke through at the Iowa Speedway. Power went from the back to the front to win the Hy-Vee One Step 250 to cap an IndyCar twinbill.

That was Power on NBC’s post race coverage. He moves into second in the IndyCar standings and it was his first win on an oval in five years.

The Atlantic Trojans softball team suffered a tough 10-7 loss to the Clarinda Cardinals on Saturday night in the Class 3A region 2 semifinals. After one inning the ball game remained tied as both starting pitchers looked confident in the circle. The first score of the night was an RBI single from Addison Wagoner for Clarinda in the bottom of the second inning as the bases were loaded putting them up 1-0. The runs would not stop there when Ryplee Sunderman struck a strong double towards center field to bring in 2 more runs putting the Cardinals up 3-0. It was then Annika Price’s turn to bat, and she also hit herself a 2 RBI double with runners on second and third base making it a 5-0 lead. Things shifted for Atlantic starting pitcher Riley Wood as she gave up no hits or runs in the next three innings for the Clarinda. Atlantic’s initial response in the bottom of the fourth inning was to take advantage from a poorly timed throw at first, helping Zoey Kirchoff come in for a score to change the lead at 5-1.

When the top of the fifth came around Atlantic was ready to score. The inning started with a double by Claire Pellett and saw a sac fly by Riley Wood chip into the score at 5-2. Lila Wiederstein then got her first hit of the night to put her on first and Zoey Kirchhoff had a monstrous swing off of the first pitch for a 2-run homer. Suddenly the game was 5-4 and Clarinda seemed to be in trouble. In the bottom of the fifth Clarinda could only get one batter to first base as the rest hit pop flies. The top of the sixth inning was now crucial for Atlantic, but even with two singles the Trojans could not muster up a score.

In the bottom of the sixth inning is where Clarinda took control of the game again, scoring 5 runs off of 5 hits and forcing the relief pitcher Peyton McLaren to come in. The Cardinals were now up 10-4 after six innings and it looked almost over for the Trojans. Atlantic decided to start the top of the seventh inning off with a walk and base hit to put two runners on. A deep hit out towards left field by McLaren which popped out of Presley Jobe’s added two more runs to Trojans score. Suddenly it was 10-6 game with only one out for Atlantic. The Trojans then grounded out for the second out but did have one more run by a Claire Schroder single making it 10-7. Atlantic’s last at bat would end in a strikeout, giving the victory to Clarinda.

Trojans head coach Terry Hinzmann was proud of the way his team battled against a solid Cardinals opponent.

Zoey Kirchoff had an impressive night batting going 2-4, with 2 RBI’s, and a home run. Claire Pellet also played well in her last game as a Trojan with a 2-3 performance and with one of those hits being a double. Clarinda’s win will have them advance to play PCM on Tuesday night in Monroe for the Class 3A region 2 championship. Atlantic’s loss has them finishing the season with a record of 27-13.

Class 1A

Region 3 

Collins-Maxwell 7, Ankeny Christian 0
Earlham 7, Riverside 2

Region 4 

Martensdale-St Marys 12, Orient-Macksburg 0
Griswold 8, Fremont-Mills 0

Class 2A

Region 2

Audubon 6, Ridge View 0
MVAOCOU 4, Emmetsburg 1

Region 3

Van Meter 13, Logan-Magnolia 3
Treynor 7, Missouri Valley 2

Region 4

Ogden 3, Regina Catholic 2
East Marshall 9, Kuemper Catholic 1

Region 5

Eddyville-Blakesburg-Fremont 4, Cardinal 0
Pleasantville 6, Interstate-35  3

Class 3A

Substate 2 

North Polk 15, Greene County 0
ADM 6, Ballard 2
Algona 10, Webster City 5
Boone 9, Humboldt 0

Substate 6

Marion 11, South Tama 1
Xavier 2, Nevada 0
Saydel 1, Oskaloosa 0
Gilbert 2, Benton 1

Substate 8 

Bondurant-Farrar 10, Atlantic 0
Lewis Central 13, Glenwood 1
Harlan 11, Carroll 3
Creston 10, Denison-Schleswig 4