FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas (Via Cyclones.Com)– Cyclones had a dominant day, Friday, as seven men booked their trips to NCAA Championships in the third day of NCAA West Prelims. The No. 17 Iowa State men end action totaling nine in seven events to move on to nationals.

Kevin Sakson is set to make his second appearance at NCAA Championships, qualifying in the discus finishing 10th. Sakson threw 190-5 (58.05m) on his first attempt and fouled on his next two, but that mark would remain among the top 12 to move on to Eugene. The Cyclones then secured multiple national entries in the 1,500m as Peter Smith and Ezekiel Rop took to the track. Smith raced in the first heat, remaining in the lead pack throughout to finish fifth and grab the last auto-qualifying slot. The senior turned in a personal best of 3:40.80 to move up a spot to ninth in ISU history.

Rop then booked a return trip to nationals in the third heat as he took the lead in the final turn to cross the line first in 3:39.70, beating out 2023 national champ Nathan Green and runner-up Joe Waskom from Washington. Rop clocked a final 400 meters of 54.14 to seal the win.

Gable Sieperda advanced to NCAA Championships for the first time as he dominated the 3,000m steeplechase. Racing in the second heat, Sieperda traded the lead with Oklahoma State’s Victor Shitsama throughout the race. With Sieperda in an automatically qualifying position in the lead pack of three, the steeplechaser comfortably crossed the finish line third in 8:39.99 in the humid 80-degree weather. Sieperda is the first ISU men’s steeplechaser to advance to nationals since 2021.

The next qualifiers came in the 800m, where another pair of Cyclones advanced to nationals. Racing alongside each other in the third and final heat, Finley Mclear worked his way from fourth to the front to win in 1:47.74 while Darius Kipyego also auto qualified in third with 1:48.03.

Said Mechaal was the seventh Cyclone of the day to advance as he grabbed fifth in the second heat of the 5,000m, securing an automatic qualifying spot with 13:54.97. Mechaal, who qualified for nationals in the 5K in indoor season, will race at outdoor nationals for the first time of his career. Sophomore Jack Latham capped his season in the regional 110m hurdles quarterfinal, once again going sub-14 seconds with 13.90w at a wind reading of 2.4 m/s. Latham finished 19th overall and fifth in his heat racing in lane nine. In the high jump, redshirt freshman Braden Goellner cleared his first two bars, ending competition in 28th with 6-10 1/4 (2.09m).