In his first ever 10,000-meter race, Iowa third-year distance runner Max Murphy stole the spotlight and punched his ticket to the NCAA Championships at the NCAA Midwest Regional meet on Nov. 10.
And for the second time in the 2023 season, Murphy rearranged the school record books — first when he shattered the Iowa men’s all-time record in the 6,000-meter race and now as he claims the seventh-fastest 10,000-meter in school history with a time of 30:27.6.
“That performance by Max was pretty special,” Hawkeye distance coach Randy Hasenbank told Hawkeye Sports. “He has been ready to do this for some time, and each time we have had a setback.
“It has been an up and down season for him,” Hasenbank added. “I think it was a relief for him, and it helps validate all the work and hours spent training.”
Overall, the men tallied 368 points and placed 12th out of 28, an improvement from last year’s 17th-place team finish.
The NCAA Championships team qualifying spots were claimed by No. 1 Oklahoma State and No. 2 Iowa State in both the men’s and women’s races.
Following in Murphy’s steps were third-year Aidan King finishing 74th with a 32:14.3, fourth-year Jack Pendergast finishing 82nd with a 32:24.0, second-year Brayden Burnett finishing 89th with a 32:27.0, and third-year Ian Geisler finishing 115th with a 32:51.4.
“They came out focused and aggressive, and I thought they kept their concentration through the critical stage of the race,” Hasenbank said to Hawkeye Sports. “As a result, this was definitely our best performance of the season.”
Murphy will be back in action representing the Hawkeyes against the toughest competition in the nation on Saturday, Nov. 18 in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Women fall short
In the 6,000-meter race, the Hawkeye women finished 19th out of 32 regionally competing teams and racked up 495 points.
Amber Aesoph resumed her typical spot in the front of the pack and finished in 61st place with a time of 21:54.6.
“This season, we have grown in just about every way,” Aesoph said. “It’s just hard to see it on the stats sheet. We’ve made so many improvements that will help us down the road, but it is just going to take time.”
Despite battling an injury for the majority of the regular season, Kelli Tosic finished closely behind Aesoph in 97th place with a time of 22:22.3.
Following suit were second-year Jalyssa Blazek in 101st and third-year Abby Ryon in 110th. The pair earned times of 22:25.9 and 22:31.7, respectively.
Second-year Aleah Tempas rounded out scoring for the Hawkeye women by earning a new personal best time of 22:46.6 and a placement of 126th.
The Hawkeyes also competed with non-scoring underclassmen Rowan Boulter and Cameron Kalaway. The two earned times of 23:28.6 and 23:49.8, respectively.