Ames, IA – Kahliyah Anderson (Texarkana, TX/Texas) and Aliyah Simmons (Miami, FL/North Miami) each set school records to lead the Indian Hills Women's Track & Field team at the Iowa State Holiday Invitational on Saturday. In total, the Warriors earned three national qualifying marks on the day.
"It was a small contingent that competed at Iowa State, but they made a really big impact," stated head coach Brent Ewing.
Competing in the 800-meter dash, Simmons set a new Indian Hills standard with a time of 2:15.79. Simmons' time was the top mark in an event that featured sprinters from four-year institutions such as the Drake University, Iowa State University, and University of Northern Iowa. Simmons also helped guide the first-place 4x400-meter relay squad that finished with a time of 3:52.40 to qualify for the national championship. Simmons led the relay team with a 56.7 split.
"I knew for a while that Aliyah Simmons was going to burst onto the national scene in a very big way," Ewing exclaimed. "She didn't disappoint one bit. Her school record performance would have put her fourth in the nation on last year's leader boards in her first ever collegiate 800-meter race."
Anderson broke the Indian Hills school record in the 200-meter dash with a blistering time of 24.92 to place first overall in the event. Anderson's time is currently the top mark in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA). Anderson was also a member of the first-place 4x400-meter relay team, anchoring the final leg to push the Warriors to victory.
"Kahliyah picked up right where she left off last May, running an indoor personal best and school record time in the 200-meter," stated Ewing. "She controlled the race from the get go and looked extremely strong. I was ecstatic to see her qualify for nationals in her first meet."
The 4x400 relay team was also paced by Aimaya Drummond (San Antonio, TX/San Antonio Brennan) and Temira Goods (Des Moines, IA/Des Moines Hoover) to eclipse the national qualifying mark by nearly 10 seconds. "The women's 4x400 relay was a lot of fun to watch," Ewing noted. "You always want to end the meet on a good note. Our relay ran really aggressive and won handedly."
The Warriors placed four of the top seven times in the women's 60-meter dash, led by freshman Jia Lewis' (Minneapolis, MN/Minneapolis Edison) second-place finish. Lewis posted a 7.80 mark to move inside the top-five in program history. Kayla McCray (Miami, FL/North Miami), the reigning United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) Athlete of the Week placed third overall with a time of 7.82. Siby Yao (Leesburg, VA/Riverside) and Kimeisha Star posted personal best times in the event, finishing with marks of 7.96 and 7.97, respectively.
"Jia Lewis continues to get better race after race," Ewing exclaimed. "It's only a matter of time before Jia qualifies for national in the 60.
Along with Yao's sprint efforts, the sophomore placed third overall in the women's long jump with a 5.31 mark, narrowly missing the national qualifying standard of 5.41.
One week removed from a school record in the 600-meter run, freshman Kaylen Pryor ran a personal best time of 59.70 in the 400-meter race. "Kaylen ran the race almost exactly how I asked her and was able to have a monster finish, picking off several runners in the last 100-meters," Ewing added.
The Warriors return to action Jan. 14 at the University of Iowa.