Mile posts: Items on Hillary Bor, Wesley Kiptoo, Cody Baele, Annie Frisbie, Ainsley Erzen, Megan Johnson, Aubrie Fisher, Payton Mauldin

Two-time Olympic steeplechaser Hillary Bor told me on a podcast in the fall of 2022 that he was going to retire from the track after the 2024 Paris Olympics and the Diamond League season and focus solely on the roads.

Bor is already making a great transition.

The former Iowa State All-American and HOKA runner based in Colorado Springs, Colo., captured his second consecutive USA Track and Field 10-mile championship title while smashing his American 10-mile record in the process in the nation's capital on Sunday. Bor finished third overall at the Credit Union Cherry Blossom 10-Miler, ironically losing the CUCB title to fellow former Cyclone Wesley Kiptoo, while recording a time of 45 minutes, 56 seconds.

Bor knocked 15 seconds off his record, set on the same course a year ago, while leading off this edition of the WEEKEND UPDATE of the best performances by Iowa-based collegiate and postcollegiate distance runners and triathletes.

"The fitness is there," third-place Bor, 34, told Race Results Weekly. "Ten miles has been good to me."

Bor is hoping to make his third U.S. team in the 3,000 steeplechase, with a berth in Paris going with his appearances in Rio in 2016 and Tokyo in 2021.

Since breaking his ankle in a Diamond League race in Rabat, Morocco, last summer, Bor has rebounded with a runner-up finish at the USATF 15-kilometer championships in Jacksonville, Fla., in a month ago and following that effort with a third-place effort at the United Airlines NYC Half two weeks later in his half marathon debut.

But Bor could not match the closing finish of seven-time Cyclone All-American and 2021 NCAA indoor 5,000 champion Kiptoo. The HOKA Northern Arizona Elite athlete based in Flagstaff, Ariz., pulled away over the final downhill 400 meters or so to the finish at the Washington Monument to top fellow Kenyan Raymond Magut (45:55) by one second.

"The last 800 I was just kind of waiting,” said Kiptoo, the Houston Half Marathon runner-up in January. "I was like, everybody is making a move and I was like just good to wait until that last 600, and that’s where I knew I was going to win."

Kiptoo, 24, claimed $6,000 for the overall win along with a $1,000 bonus for breaking 46 minutes. Bor, by holding off fellow American Nathan Martin by four seconds, pocketed $10,000 for his USATF title and another $2,000 for third place.

Placing fifth and the third American was 2021 USATF Roads series champion Biya Simbassa, 30, of the Under Armour Dark Sky Distance team. The Quad-City Times Bix 7 champion last July, Simbassa, 30, is a former Sioux City North and Iowa Central Community College great who ran 46:17 Sunday.

Cody Baele of the Fitness Sports Distance Project team and a Des Moines resident placed 13th overall in 47:58. That time by the Des Moines resident is two seconds faster than Phil Coppess' all-time Iowa record for 10 miles, set at Capital Pursuit in 1985. But since it didn't occur in Iowa, it won't set the state record. However, that time is a new personal best for Baele, eclipsing his 48:56 set at Cherry Blossom a year ago. Baele, 28, is the reigning IMT Des Moines Half Marathon champion.

Finishing 37th was former Ottumwa prep and former Iowa All-Big Ten runner Kevin Lewis. The Minnesota Distance Elite athlete living in Richfield, Minn., ran 50:56.

Runablaze Iowa coordinator and former Johnston High and Iowa Central standout Tyson Wieland came in 149th among the men in 55:58. Wieland, 29, lives in Des Moines.

Former Iowa State All-American Annie Frisbie, 27, of the Minnesota Distance Elite team picked up fifth place overall and third among American women for a nice payday. The Puma athlete living in Edina, Minn., ran 52:01. Uganda's Sarah Chelangat repeated as women's overall champion in a new course record of 51:14.

Moving to the track, where former Carlisle prep great Ainsley Erzen set a new career best for 1,500 at the windy Arkansas Spring Invitational at John McDonnell Field on Saturday. The Razorbacks sophomore ran 4:27.60 for fourth place in a race won by Yazmine Wright in 4:21.71.

Northern Iowa picked up a win from junior Emma Hoins in the 3,000 steeplechase. The former Waverly-Shell Rock prep and Hawkeye Community College transfer ran 10:54.97. Fellow junior Kate Crawford, a former Guthrie Center athlete, ran 10:13.22 to take second in the 3,000 meters. Panther junior and former Aplington-Parkersburg prep Sophia Jungling was fourth in a solid 2:10.27 in the 800.

A number of Iowa natives competed in the Wartburg Outdoor Select in Waverly on Friday and Saturday. The women's 1,500 featured a duel between Central College's top runners, Wartburg's ace and one of Drake University's best. Central junior Megan Johnson emerged with the victory on a windy day, running 4:33.63 to top Wartburg senior and former AGWSR (Ackley) prep Aubrie Fisher. Fisher, the reigning NCAA 3,000 steeplechase champion, ran 4:35.49 for second. Fisher remained eighth on Wartburg's career list, but improved on her career-best time. Central multi-even record holder and junior Caroline McMartin crossed the finish line in third in 4:36.87. Dutch sophomore Peyton Steffen, a former Marion athlete, was fourth in 4:38.00. Placing sixth was Wartburg junior and former Iowa Falls-Alden prep Ellie Meyer in 4:30.32. Leading Northern Iowa was freshman and former Don Bosco (Gilbertville) prep Kendra Nissen in 11th in 4:45.10.

In the men's 1,500, Central College junior and former Sidney prep Noah Jorgenson took runner-up honors in 3:52.21. He was outkicked by Wartburg senior Christopher Collet by .31 of a second. Drake redshirt freshman and former Dallas Center-Grimes prep Aidan Ramsey moved down in distance and placed fourth in 3:54.84. Wartburg junior and former Johnston prep Sam Schmitz was seventh in 3:56.97. Crossing ninth was former Monticello prep and Wartburg junior Carter Cruise in 3:57.99. Fellow junior Jack Kinzer finished the top 10 in 3:58.13. The Wartburg athlete is a former North Liberty prep.

In the 5,000, Northern Iowa sophomore and former Marion athlete Tyler Colvin was the winner in 15:06.02. He won by a whopping 46 seconds.

South Dakota hosted the USD Early Bird meet on Friday and Saturday in Vermillion and Dordt University senior Payton Mauldin again stole many of the headlines. The former Central Lyon-GLR and reigning NAIA indoor 600 champion won the 800 meters in 1:51.06 to earn a spot at NAIA outdoor nationals. Mauldin edged MSU-Moorhead's Braxton Bruer by just .05 of a second. Mauldin's time ranks second in the NAIA.

Dordt redshirt sophomore Craig Becker turned a third-place finish in the 1,500 into a new personal record. The Northern Iowa transfer and former Atlantic prep ran 3:55.14 to move into fourth all-time in Defenders history. That time was just shy of the 'B' standard for NAIA nationals. Former Dordt star Eric Steiger, now a Fitness Sports Distance Project athlete, came across sixth in 3:58.33.

Omaha sophomore Kamryn Ensley grabbed fifth place in the women's 1,500. The former Valley prep ran 4:45.18 in a race won by Sioux Falls' Khot Juac in 4:35.41.

It was a tough day for distance runners with the wind, but Dordt senior Lucy Borkowski ran 18:23.98 for eighth. That time puts the reigning Great Plains Athletic Conference indoor 5,000 champion and former Harlan Community prep in eighth all-time in Defenders history.

Boston University took a group to the UMass Spring Opener event and freshman Abi Hahn started his outdoor career on a good note by placing sixth in the 1,500 in 4:42.67. Hahn is a former Des Moines Roosevelt prep.

The Northwest Missouri State University teams competed at the 16th annual David Suenram Gorilla Classic on Saturday. Bearcats freshman and former Clarinda athlete Mayson Hartley ran the 1,500 in 4:47.97 to place fifth. In ninth place was freshman teammate and former Norwalk prep Bree Mauro in 4:53.36.

Iowa State sophomore Kaia Holtkamp ran a new best for 800 meters of 2:12.92 at the Hurricane Invite in Miami. The Solon graduate finished 12th.

An Iowa contingent competed at the Jim Click Shootout in Tucson, Ariz., and sophomore Jalyssa Blazek placed fifth in the 800. The former Turkey Valley (Jackson Junction) athlete ran 2:14.86.

Loras College competed in town at the University of Dubuque for the Mississippi River Rumble. Junior Carlo Dannenfelser picked up the win in the 1,500 in 3:59.01, topping teammate Jacob Belha by just .8 of a second. Dannenfelser is a former Cedar Rapids Prairie prep.

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

Want to hear more about distance running in Iowa. Listen to my podcast here: https://anchor.fm/lance-bergeson8

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Mile posts: Items on Hillary Bor, Wesley Kiptoo, Cody Baele, Annie Frisbie, Ainsley Erzen, Megan Johnson, Aubrie Fisher, Payton Mauldin