Former Ankeny standout Tim Sindt closed out his collegiate cross country career in style.
Sindt helped the Iowa State men’s team to a second-place finish in the NCAA Championships on Saturday at Madison, Wis. It was the Cyclones’ second runner-up finish in the last four years.
All seven Iowa State runners finished in the top 100 of the 10K race. Sindt placed 94th in a time of 29:52.4.
The Cyclones scored 137 points, finishing 13 points behind the nation’s top-ranked team and Big 12 foe, BYU. The Cougars placed two runners in the top 15.
Iowa State had four runners earn all-America status, the most since 1994. Said Mechaal led the way, placing 10th in 28:59.8.
Robin Kwemoi Bera and Joash Ruto both ran with the top five runners through the first 3K. Between the 4K and 5K checkpoints, Ruto was tripped up and fell 70 spots from 13th to 83rd place.
Ruto rallied and eventually finished 34th in 29:22.4. Kwemoi Bera took 37th in 29:23.8, while Sanele Masondo earned his second all-American honor by placing 23rd in 29:16.8.
“Kudos to coach Eyestone and BYU, they ran awesome,” said ISU Director of Track & Field/Cross Country Jeremy Sudbury. “I thought all year it would be one of those races where we have to come from behind and catch them. I thought our guys executed the game plan. Obviously really happy for our guys, they ran a really tough team race. I think overall the mega-goal this year was always (give) ourselves a chance of a national title. And I thought the guys executed that today, they were 13 points out and just … you know, it takes a team it’s a whole team effort. And so I think, you know, when we talk about our program and the type of guys that we have, it’s never giving up, never quitting and that mentality was shown today.
“Obviously had some guys have a bad moment, misstep but overall it’s a team performance, and where we had other guys step up to make sure we still got on the podium and got that runner up performance. So yeah, couldn’t be happier. Obviously it’s always a little bittersweet to lose a national title with 13 points, but that’s okay, we’ll be back and this will just be a catalyst for us to try to do it again next year,” he added.