Mile posts: Items on Adrienne Buettner-Cable, Noelle Steines, Isaiah Hammerand, Keelee Leitzen, Shewaye Johnson, Geneva Timmerman

Des Moines Roosevelt graduate Adrienne Buettner-Cable was frightfully great on Halloween.

The Boston University senior set the second-fastest time in Patriot League history while capturing the first conference title of her career. She dominated the 6-kilometer race at the Bucknell Golf Course on Saturday, Oct. 31, covering the 3.7-mile distance in a personal-best time of 19 minutes, 41.6 seconds to win by 52.5 seconds over Army West Point senior Mikayla Cheney.

Buettner-Cable leads off this edition of the WEEKEND UPDATE of the best performances by Iowa-based collegiate and post collegiate distance runners and triathletes.

Buettner-Cable guided the Terriers to their third runner-up finish in four attempts while becoming the sixth Boston University individual cross country champion in Patriot League history. Not surprisingly, she was named Patriot League Most Outstanding Performer of the Meet.

Her previous best Patriot League individual finish had been a runner-up finish in the 10,000 on the track in May of 2026. She also had finished 13th in the Patriot League cross country race in 2023, ninth in 2024 and 26th a year ago.

Army surged past the Terriers late in the team competition in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, to score 50 points, five ahead of BU. Placing 52nd for the Terriers was another ex-Roosevelt runner, Abi Hahn. Hahn was timed in 22:10.6.

No fewer than five former Iowa preps captured individual titles in a big conference meet weekend. Tipton product Noelle Steines moved up two spots from a year ago to capture the Missouri Valley Conference title hosted by Drake University at A.H. Blank Golf Course in Des Moines on Friday, Oct. 30. Steines, a sophomore, pulled away over the final kilometer to set a new program and MVC best time of 19:55.2 while topping her previous best by 2.0 seconds.

Steines became the second straight Bradley runner to claim an MVC title, joining Kaitlyn Sheppard, who was fourth on Oct. 30. Those two and senior runner-up Trixie Wraith guided Bradley to its third consecutive women’s team title. The Braves scored 19 points to easily outdistance Illinois State (67).

The host Bulldogs picked up fourth place and leading them was standout freshman Chloe Glosser. The former Pekin (Packwood) competitor covered the 6K course in 20:32.8 for ninth place to earn first team All-MVC honors and the 2026 MVC Freshman of the Year award. Glosser was just shy of a new PR.

Northern Iowa ended up in fifth place and pacing the Panthers was sophomore and ex-North Linn athlete Meghan Wheatley in 23rd place in 21:06.3. She was closely followed by junior teammate Clare Wright, a Jesup grad, in 26th place in 21:16.5.

Drake’s fourth finisher was Union (La Porte City) product Amelia Condon, a sophomore, in 21:22.0. The next finisher was Northern Iowa sophomore and former Dubuque Hempstead prep Evie Henneberry in 21:24.4.

Drake’s No. 6 scorer was sophomore Anika Mohrhauser, who attended Ankeny Centennial, in 21:31.9. Cracking the top 50 for the Panthers was sophomore and ex-Cedar Falls athlete Josee Simonson (46th, 21:57.2) and Lucy Murphy, a freshman who went to Dubuque Wahlert and ran 21:58.0 for 47th.

Will return to the MVC men’s competition soon, but switching to the American Rivers Conference meet at the BVU Golf Course at Lake Creek on Oct. 31 where the Wartburg teams swept the league titles for the eighth consecutive year. The men topped Central College, 28-49, as senior Isaiah Hammerand claimed his third consecutive title and ARC MVP. The Western Dubuque grad covered the 8K course in 23:47.5 to roll to the win by 28.6 seconds. He was just 3.3 seconds off his PR set a year ago at the ARC meet while taking his fourth ARC honor. Hammerand is only the third Knights runner to earn three ARC MVP honors, joining Doug Beck (1968-70) and Joe Freiburger (2019-21).

Simpson College junior James Johnson tied the program best of second place by running 24:16.1. The Marshalltown product matches Spencer Moon’s 2023 finish. Johnson achieved his second all-conference honor while pushing the Storm to fourth in the team race with 109 points.

Central College was paced by the 1-2 punch of seniors William Wadsley (fourth, 24:48.9) and Jack Brown (fifth, 24:49.0). Wadsley attended Gilbert while Brown, the reigning NCAA indoor mile champion, ran for Norwalk. Wartburg junior Andrew Smith and ninth-place finisher Solomon Zaugg became two-time all-conference performers for Wartburg. Smith, who prepped at Glenwood, ran 24:58.1 for seventh. Zaugg, a Mediapolis grad, ran 25:03.9 for ninth. They were the third- and fifth-best finishers for the Knights.

Donovan Card, a junior at Central, was the Dutch’s third finisher in 25:10.0 for 10th. He also attended Norwalk. The league’s Rookie of the Year was Dutch freshman Isaac Rankin in 11th. The ex-Knoxville prep ran 25:10.3. He was less than two seconds off his PR. Next to finish and grabbing his second all-conference selection was Knights junior Cooper Cook in 25:10.6. He went to Marion. Another Wartburg runner, Ethan Boston, was next in 25:10.8. The former Linn-Mar (Marion) runner became an all-conference runner for the first time. The top 15 included Wartburg junior and former Madrid athlete Clay Warson (14th, 25:11.3).

The Knights’ run continued with Cedar Falls product and junior Ahmed Aldamak in 16th place in 25:18.3. It was his third all-conference honor. Taking 19th was Ankeny Centennial grad and Iowa State transfer AJ Schermerhorn (25:23.1). He is a Wartburg redshirt sophomore.

Loras College redshirt sophomore Keelee Leitzen repeated as women’s champion as covering the 6K course in 21:40.4, a 5:48.8 pace per mile. The Dubuque Hempstead grad who started her career at Iowa State outdueled Dubuque senior Delisha Davis (21:45.3) for the win. The next finisher was Central College sophomore Maddy Stevens, a former Dallas Center-Grimes athlete, in 22:05.8. Stevens paced the Dutch to their fourth consecutive runner-up finish with 49 points.

Wartburg’s depth was too good again while scoring 33 points. Leading the Knights with a fourth-place finish was junior and ex-Hampton-Dumont competitor Lydia Maas in 22:15.6. Maas became a three-time all-conference selection. The Knights went 4-5-6-7-11 and placing third for Wartburg was ex-Ballard (Huxley) runner Ava Vance in 22:33.4 for sixth. Vance also picked up her third all-conference honor.

Central freshman Audrey Dummermuth narrowly missed securing Rookie of the Year honors after taking eighth in 22:39.0. The ex-Johnston runner was the Dutch’s No. 2 finisher. She edged senior teammate Teah Miller, a former Iowa Falls-Alden athlete who ran 22:43.8 for ninth. Central also had sophomore and ex-Marion athlete Kyra Cordes (10th, 22:44.7) crack the top 10. The final Dutch scorer was 23rd.

Simpson College freshman Eva Fleshner was the top finisher for the fourth-place Storm. The Woodward-Granger product ran 22:52.8 for 13th. Grabbing her third all-conference selection was Knights junior Sydney Bochmann in 15th (22:54.0). Bochmann went to Waverly-Shell Rock. Junior teammate Anna Quillin, an ex-Solon athlete, was next to finish in 22:54.2. The next finisher was another Knight, sophomore Marissa Pewe (17th, 22:54.2). She went to Johnston. The Wartburg run continued with sophomore Bethany Warren, a Forest City product, in 22:54.4. Rounding out the top 20 was Wartburg sophomore and ex-Dubuque Senior runner Claire Hoyer in 22:58.5.

Shewaye Johnson won her first Summit League title of any kind in St. Paul, Minnesota, on Oct. 31. The former Ballard (Huxley) runner who ended her prep career in Texas covered the Highland 9 Golf Course in 20:30.0 to deny a fellow Iowan of a title. The North Dakota senior who started her career at Texas A&M ran the 6K in 20:30.0 to lead the Fighting Hawks to the team title with 22 points, 38 better than South Dakota. Johnson improved on a fourth-place finish at the Summit meet a year ago.

The Coyotes were led heavily by Iowans, starting with conference runner-up and former ADM (Adel) runner Geneva Timmerman. The junior posted her best Summit finish and the best by a Coyotes runner since 2015 by crossing in 20:34.7. That time is also the beset by a South Dakota runner at a Summit League event.

Two spots behind Timmerman was teammate and former Ankeny High competitor Drew Beason in 20:47.4. Both earned all-conference honors for the first time. The No. 4 finisher for South Dakota was freshman Alyx Woodley, who attended Johnston. Woodley ran 21:49.1 for 18th.

South Dakota State had to settle for fourth place and the No. 3 runner for the Jackrabbits was sophomore and Alta-Aurelia product Nora Peterson. Peterson covered the course in 22:04.1 for 26th. Another Ballard prep, South Dakota State sophomore Annika Larson, was 48th in 22:50.1.

South Dakota junior Natnael Kifle matched his 10th-place finish from 2024 in the men’s 8K competition. The Sioux City North grad ran 24:39.7 for second place on the Coyotes’ (83) third-place team. Kifle also was 22nd a year ago. South Dakota State won the team title with 34 points, 11 ahead of North Dakota. Running sixth for the Jackrabbits was redshirt senior and ex-Sioux City North competitor Will Lohr in 16th place. Lohr ran 24:55.6. The Jacks scored 4-6-7-8-9 in a strong showing.

South Dakota was buoyed by three other Iowans. Urbandale product Tommy Hensley came in 28th and was the Coyotes’ No. 5 runner in 25:20.1. He was 48th a year ago. Freshman Ike Smith, who attended Ankeny High, was 41st in 25:51.6. Senior teammate Levi Hill was next. The ex-Ankeny High athlete ran 25:53.0. Oral Roberts senior Abraham Chelangam won in 23:43.6.

Three Iowa City High grads were instrumental in leading the Carleton College women’s cross country team to its 10th MIAC championship in the last 13 attempts. Freshman Abigail Burns and sophomore twins Nina and Nicole Peterson finished 2-3-4 to guide the Knights to 25 points, outdistancing St. Olaf (63).

Burns covered the 6K St. Olaf Cross Country Course in Northfield, Minnesota, on Oct. 31 in 22:24.9 for second place. Nina Peterson grabbed third in 22:30.5 and Nicole was next in 22:31.0.

"Carleton has had some tremendous teams over the years, and I believe this is the lowest spread (17 seconds) from 1-5 that any of our teams have executed,” Carleton coach Donna Ricks said.

Nicole placed 15th in the MIAC meet a year ago and Nina was 57th a year ago. Macalester senior Ingrid Norquist stormed to the conference title Oct. 31 in 21:48.6.

Another former Iowa City Little Hawks runner starred at the Big Sky Conference meet at Buffalo Park in Flagstaff, Arizona, on Oct. 30. Northern Arizona senior Ford Washburn claimed sixth and was the champion Lumberjacks’ No. 4 finisher. Washburn covered the 8K course in 24:02.7. He was 11th a year ago and 30th in 2024. Northern Arizona topped Montana State, 20-71, for its sixth consecutive conference title. Lumberjacks senior Erik Le Roux won in 23:50.9.

Arkansas settled for fifth at the stout SEC championships at Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Missouri, on Oct. 30. Helping the Razorbacks’ cause was redshirt junior and former Ballard (Huxley) star Paityn Noe in 20th place in 19:38.2. Noe was the No. 2 finisher for Arkansas (161). Freshman teammate Marissa Ferebee also competed for the Razorbacks and the ex-Pella High competitor ran 20:57.3 for 76th place. Alabama won the team crown with 48 points and Crimson Tide sophomore Caren Kiplagat won in 18:46.5.

Texas placed 16th and freshman Lili Denton, who attended Council Bluffs St. Albert, ran 22:14.7 for 134th place.

The Arkansas men grabbed second in the team race with 76 points and redshirt junior Allen Bonnesen, who started his career at Iowa State, was the Razorbacks’ No. 5 finisher. The Danville-New London grad ran a new best of 23:15.1 for 27th place. The winner was Florida sophomore Kelvin Cheruiyot in 22:03.1.

The North Central (IL) women won their first College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin title since 2015 with the help of ex-Davenport Central athlete Dylan Moeller. The redshirt freshman set a new best of 22:25.6 in the 6K to grab third place while helping the Cardinals score 48 points, 13 ahead of Illinois Wesleyan, while putting five on the all-conference team Oct. 31.

Wheaton claimed sixth and the leader at St. James Forest in Wrinville, Indiana, was senior Sophia Huber, who attended Urbandale. Huber ran 22:43.3 for ninth two years after placing eighth in the CCIW meet. Jessica Solar of Elmhurst was the champion in 22:13.5.

Freshman Kyle Johnson helped Wisconsin-La Crosse to its ninth consecutive WIAC cross country championship at the UW-Whitewater Cross Country Course in Whitewater, Wisconsin, on Oct. 31. The Cedar Rapids Prairie product covered the 8K course in 25:04.7 to finish as the Eagles’ No. 3 runner in his conference debut. The Eagles scored 27 points to top Stevens Point by 19 points. The winner ran 24:07.2.

The Luther College men finished third in their debut at the Midwest Conference event at Beloit, Wisconsin, on Oct. 31. Finishing as conference runner-up in his conference debut was freshman Adam Gray. The Cedar Rapids Kennedy grad ran 25:11.0 to trail senior teammate Michel Heinrich, who ran 25:06.0. Luther also got a 29th-place effort from senior and ex-Dowling Catholic athlete Johnny Fox in 27:10.

Cornell College secured fifth place and running second for the Rams at the Beloit Country Club was junior Isaac Morris, who prepped at Benton (Van Horne). Morris was timed in 26:09.0.

Cohen Kooker finished as the No. 5 runner for runner-up North Florida at the ASUN championships in Richmond, Kentucky, on Oct. 30. The Valley grad covered the 5K Arlington Golf Course in 18:45.7 for 17th place. The Ospreys scored 65 points to trail Lipscomb, which scored a perfect 15. The winning time was 17:12.0.

Shifting to the roads and the 51st New York City Marathon on Sunday, Nov. 1. Former Iowa State All-American Ryan Ford finished as the third-best American and 10th overall in 2:07:17. The On athlete based in Boulder, Colorado, owns a personal best of 2:05:46 at Boston in April. Ford, 29, improved one place from his 2024 New York City effort. He was ahead of American stalwart and Olympian Conner Mantz.

Former Sioux City North and South Dakota runner Merga Gemeda, 27, made a big leap in performance by placing 20th overall in 2:10:32. The Minnesota Distance Elite athlete now based in Minnetonka, Minnesota, trimmed 4:40 off his effort at Grandma’s Marathon in June.

Two former Iowa State runners didn’t fare as well as Ford. MDE’s Annie Frisbie, who was fifth in New York City a year ago and eighth at Boston in 2025 and 2026, finished 15th among the professional women in 2:30:04. Frisbie, 29, owns a personal-best time of 2:22:00 from Boston in April. Two spots behind Frisbie was Amanda Vestri, who finished who career at Syracuse. The St. Augustine, Florida, resident, 27, ran 2:30:16. She owns a personal best of 2:24:49 at Boston in April and ran 2:25:40 in her marathon debut in New York City last year.

Cailie (Logue) Hughes, a 13-time Big 12 Conference champion, made her marathon debut and placed 24th among the women in 2:36:09. Logue, 27, runs for MDE and is based in Bloomington, Minnesota. Another invited female runner, Maddie Block, took 32nd among the women in 2:41:22. Block, 27, attended Marion and the competed for Iowa.

The day before, at the Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5K, Iowa State 2019 NCAA cross country champion and 2024 Olympian Edwin Kurgat, 30, took second place. The UA Mission Run Dark Sky runner who lives in Flagstaff, Arizona, covered the 3.1-mile distance in 13:38 to trail former New Mexico star Habtom Samuel by seven seconds.

In the women’s 5K, former Iowa Western Community College and Florida runner Hilda Olemomoi, 23, of the HOKA Northern Arizona Elite squad was fifth. The Flagstaff runner was time in 15:47. American Rachael Rudel won in 15:35.

Returning to the MVC meet in Des Moines, where Bradley ensured a sweep of the titles by scoring 23 points in the men’s race. Illinois State was second with 60 points and junior Ethan Eichhorn, who previously ran for Council Bluffs Lewis Central and Iowa, was the Redbirds’ third-best finisher in 13th place. Eichhorn ran 24:13.7 for 8K.

Northern Iowa claimed fifth place with 148 points and the Panthers’ No. 2 runner was freshman AJ Willey. He ran 24:36.7 for 25th. Willey prepped at Bettendorf. The next Panther was junior Colin Lillie, a Council Bluffs St. Albert grad, in 32nd place. Lillie ran 24:43.7. The host Bulldogs secured a strong third place and sophomore John Moellers, a Marshalltown grad, ran a new PR of 24:49.6 for 35th. He was the Bulldogs’ final scorer.

Also finishing in the top 50 were Panthers runners Carson Owens (49th, 25:14.2) and Jonas VanDis (50th, 25:17.3). Owens, a junior, competed for Southeast Polk and VanDis, a sophomore, for Waukee High. Bradley’s Jayde Rosslee won the individual crown in 23:00.3.

The Big Ten championships at the Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course in Madison, Wisconsin, on Oct. 30 featured a dominant showing by the Oregon men (23 points). Iowa picked up 12th place and leading the Hawkeyes was junior All-American Luke Knepp. The ex-Pleasant Valley prep covered the 8K course in 24:06.1 for 50th. He was 122nd last year. Senior teammate Miles Wilson ended up 54th in 24:09.5 as Iowa’s No. 2 finisher. The Cedar Rapids Kennedy grad improved nine spots from a year ago. Sophomore teammate Owen Wolfe, who attended Dowling Catholic, was 88th in 24:47.8. He was ahead of junior Will Ryan, another ex-Dowling athlete who was 92nd in 24:55.8. Running sixth for Iowa was true freshman and Indianola product Reed Robbins in 101st in 25:05.9. He held off another freshman, Slader Buckheister (102nd, 25:06.4). Buckheister prepped at Kennedy. The champion was Oregon junior star Simeon Birnbaum in 23:04.2.

Oregon also won the women’s title with 35 points while Iowa took 13th. The No. 2 runner for the Hawkeyes was junior and ex-Sumner-Fredricksburg prep Hillary Trainor in 73rd place in 21:05.1. That is a 16-place improvement from a year ago. The No. 3 scorer was junior and former Dubuque Hempstead athlete Julia Gehl (112th, 21:53.4). Freshman Avery Rump, a Fort Madison competitor in high school, ran 21:58.4 for 120th. Rounding out the roster was senior and ex-Van Meter runner Clare Kelly (138th, 22:42.5). The individual champion was Oregon sophomore Diana Cherotich in 18:56.1.

The Iowa State men mustered a fourth-place finish at the stacked Big 12 event in Stillwater, Oklahoma, on Oct. 31. The Cyclones scored 104 points to trail Colorado (36), Oklahoma State (38) and BYU (91). True freshman Jaden Merrick, who took his senior season off to win a Drake Relays 10,000 title, finished 63rd for the Cyclones in 24:58.4. Iowa State scored 17-18-21-22-26 at the Greiner Family Cross Country Course. The winner was Oklahoma State senior Denis Kipngetich in 23:05.7.

The Iowa State women settled for sixth with 168 points. Sophomore Olivia Verd, who attended Johnston, was 118th in 23:14.3. The Cyclones’ leader was third-place sophomore Betty Kipkore in 19:39.9. Kansas State ended up 15th and Albia grad McKenna Montgomery, a true freshman, was the Wildcats’ No. 3 finisher in 88th place. Montgomery ran 22:29.7.

BYU won the team crown with 56 points, seven ahead of West Virginia, while sophomore Jane Hedengren claimed the individual crown in 19:28.0.

Jumping back to the small colleges and the Centennial Conference event in Haverford, Pennsylvania on Oct. 31. Ani Wedemeyer, a sophomore at Johns Hopkins, was the No. 6 runner for the champion Blue Jays in the 6K in 22:05.0. Wedemeyer graduated from Pleasant Valley. Johns Hopkins scored 23 points to top Swarthmore by 30 points. Her junior teammate, Carter Brotherton, won in 21:12.4.

NOTE: This blog will be UPDATED.

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This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Mile posts: Items on Adrienne Buettner-Cable, Noelle Steines, Isaiah Hammerand, Keelee Leitzen, Shewaye Johnson, Geneva Timmerman