Mile posts: Items on Brogan Austin, Katy Jermann, Meghan Peyton, Awet Johannes, David Thompson, Winrose Chesang, Florance Uwajeneza, Gary Patton – Des Moines Register

This week’s edition of the WEEKEND UPDATE takes a break from the NCAA Division I schools. Instead, a former Drake University star takes top honors after winning a big road race in Atlanta over the weekend.

Former Boone High and Bulldogs standout Brogan Austin continued his hot streak by winning the Road to Gold 8.2-mile race on Saturday in Atlanta. The event was a test event for the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials, which will be held on the same course on Feb. 29, 2020.

Austin, according to a Runablaze Iowa release, went through the first mile in 4:45 and 14:12 through 3 miles. Austin then pulled away from 2016 marathon Olympian Jared Ward and third-place Parker Stinson after the 6-mile loop to take the win and defeat 38 other elite men in 38:06, a 4:39 pace per mile.

“Hilly is an understatement,” Austin said of the course in the release. “You’re not going to have to be fast for this course. “It’s just all about grit, being in great shape. Whoever is going to be strongest that day will ultimately come away in the top three.”

Finishing 18th was former Iowa State runner Tyler Jermann, who now runs for Team USA Minnesota. Jermann was clocked in 39:53.

Several runners with Iowa ties also fared well on the women’s side. Former Iowa State All-American Katy Jermann of Fairbank finished fourth overall in 44:58. Jermann’s Team USA Minnesota teammate, former University of Iowa standout Meghan Peyton, took 14th in 45:52. Both reside in the Twin Cities area.

Former Boone High and Runablaze Iowa athlete Danna Herrick ended up 31st overall in 47:32. Herrick is a Hansons-Brooks Distance Project athlete who resides in Utica, Mich. The winner was 2016 Olympian Amy Cragg in 43:23.

Now on to indoor track, where all of the NCAA Division I schools were off, awaiting the NCAA Indoor Championships next weekend. But former University of Iowa All-American Erik Sowinski became a small footnote in history during Yomif Kejelcha’s world record run of 3:47.01 at the Bruce Lehane Invitational Mile at Boston University on Sunday. Nike athlete Sowinski paced the opening 800 meters in 1:54.38 before stepping off the track. Kejelcha, an Ethiopian, is a Nike Oregon Project athlete.

The Iowa Central Community College men’s team used a balanced effort to claim its sixth overall championship at the NJCAA Men’s Indoor Track and Field nationals over the weekend at the Robert W. Plaster Center in Pittsburg, Kan. The Tritons scored 90.5 points and won three events, including the 3,000 run and distance medley relay, to defeat Barton (Kan.) by 10.5 points. The championship is Iowa Central’s third in four years and first under Nigel Bigbee, who has taken the reigns of the program since Denny Myers’ death last June. Bigbee was named NJCAA Men’s Coach of the Meet.

The Tritons’ championship effort was paced by freshman Awet Johannes, who won the 3,000 meters on Friday in a narrow sprint over Colby’s Nehemiah Too. Johannes was timed in 8:18.68, while the sophomore Too ran 8:18.88. Tritons freshman Milos Pendic finished fifth in 8:30.82.

Johannes came back to place second to Too in the mile final on Saturday. Too ran 4:15.68 while Yohannes was clocked in 4:17.66.

Yohannes also anchored the Tritons ‘A’ squad to victory in the distance medley relay. The quartet of freshman Miguel Coca, freshman David Dunlap, sophomore Thomas Bryant and Yohannes were timed in 10:03.49.

Also picking up valuable point in the distance races were freshman Ethan Smith (fifth, 1:19.53) in the 600-meter final and sophomore Mel Obadiah (fifth, 1:54.92) in the 800 final.

Also impressing in its second year of existence was Hawkeye Community College and coach Tyler Mulder. The RedTails won the 4×800-meter relay final by nearly four seconds in 7:40.06. The RedTails relay included sophomore Konner Roth, sophomore Landon Boomsma, sophomore David Thompson and freshman Payton Bahl. Hawkeye also placed fifth in the distance medley final, with its runners sophomores Ryan Millikin and Kenneth Beard as well as Bahl and Thompson. The RedTails ran 10:13.98.

Thompson also picked up a fifth-place national finish in the 1,000-meter final when he ran 2:31.65.

A pair of Iowa collegians also finished in the top eight of the 5,000-meter run. Iowa Western freshman Kassim Kibet was fourth in 14:27.74 and Indian Hills sophomore Marcus Graham was sixth in 14:35.61.

The Iowa Central women finished fifth in the team race on the strength of three distance victories, two by sophomore Winrose Chesang in the mile and 3,000 meters and one by freshman Florance Uwajeneza in the 5,000 meters. Chesang took the mile win in 5:09.39 on Saturday, a day after taking a three-second victory in the 3,000 by running 10:08.61. Uwajeneza was sixth in the 3,000 final in 10:20.53.

Both Chesang and Uwajeneza also ran in the 5,000 final Friday, and Uwajeneza got the better of Chesang in a near-photo finish. Uwajeneza took the win in 17:10.45, just .09 ahead of Chesang. Finishing fourth in the 5,000 final for the Tritons was freshman Lilian Busienei in 18:05.54.

Two other Iowa collegians scored points in distance finals. Iowa Central sophomore India McNeill was seventh in the 600-meter final in 1:38.83 and Iowa Western freshman Makeda Newman grabbed eighth in 1:40.13.

At the USATF National Masters Indoor Championships in Winston-Salem, N.C., Rock Rapids native Gary Patton won three national titles. The retired engineer won the national title in the 70-74 men’s 3,000 final in 11:54.81 Friday. Patton also captured the 70-74 men’s mile title by a gap of almost 20 seconds after running 5:58.98 Friday.

On Saturday, Patton grabbed the national title in the 70-74 800 run in 2:46.23, a gap of more than six seconds. Patton now runs for the SoCal Track Club in California.

MISSING A TOP DISTANCE RUNNER OR TRIATHLETE?: Let me know at bergeson@registermedia.com.