Mile posts: Items on Mattison Plummer, Shewaye Johnson, Will Lohr, Adrienne Buettner-Cable, Quinton Orr, Gavin Grunhovd, Matt Hanson

The women's 3000-meter steeplechase title at the Missouri Valley Conference Outdoor meet came down to two Iowans.

Illinois State redshirt senior Mattison Plummer and Northern Iowa redshirt senior Millie Hill dueled for the title on Sunday, May 17 at Terre Haute, Indiana. Plummer, a Southeast Polk grad, threw down a new personal-best time of 10 minutes, 7.06 seconds to top Hill for the title. Plummer bested her previous personal record by about four seconds.

It's the second MVC crown for Plummer, who leads off this edition of the WEEKEND UPDATE of the best performances by Iowa-based collegiate and post collegiate distance runners and triathletes.

Plummer also won the 2026 indoor crown in the 5,000 while improving on a runner-up finish in the MVC 3,000 steeplechase two years ago. Plummer redshirted the outdoor season a year ago.

Hill, a former Ankeny Centennial prep, established a new best of 10:23.23 for the 7 1/2-lap race while taking second by more than 14 seconds. Her Panthers freshman teammate, Evie Henneberry, secured all-conference honor with eighth place in 10:54.47. The Dubuque Hempstead product set a new best by more than 11 seconds.

Plummer and Hill also faced off in the final distance event of the championships, the 5,000. Plummer rebounded well to take third place in 17:13.47. Hill was next across the line in 17:15.67 while taking her first all-MVC honor in this event. The winner, Bradley junior Trixie Wraith, ran 16:34.29.

The Northern Iowa women secured second in the team race with 167, 16.5 behind Indiana State.

Will return with much more from the MVC meet, but switching to the Summit League meet in Fargo, North Dakota, from May 14-16. It was a return to prominence for former Ballard (Huxley) athlete Shewaye Johnson, who picked up runner-up finishes in the 10,000 and 5,000 meters. The North Dakota junior, who finished her prep career in Texas, first ran 35:16.71 in the 10,000. That trailed senior teammate Jadyn Keeler by 13.13 seconds. South Dakota sophomore Geneva Timmerman started her equally busy weekend with a sixth-place finish in 36:29.21. Timmerman competed for ADM (Adel).

In the 5,000 on May 16, Johnson was timed in 16:22.84 during her second-place run. She was also runner-up in the indoor 5,000 this season. Timmerman set a new best for the distance while picking up third in 16:35.18. South Dakota freshman Drew Beason, who prepped at Ankeny High, established a new best of 16:55.08 while taking eighth. Keeler won another title in 16:13.10.

Enjoying a very strong weekend as well was Sioux City North grad Will Lohr. Lohr matched his third-place finish from the indoor 5,000 in the outdoor trip of 12 1/2 laps. The South Dakota State redshirt junior was timed in 14:24.60 for third place. North Dakota State freshman Carl Rekow, who competed for Pleasant Valley, ended up 12th in 14:52.47. That is a new best for him. One spot back was South Dakota sophomore Natnael Kifle, like Lohr a Sioux City North product. He ran 14:54.41. The best time was 14:11.57.

Before then, Lohr secured fourth place in the 10,000 in 31:35.17 to help the Jackrabbits to second in the team race with 162 points. The winning time was 31:14.58.

Rekow had a better finish in the 1,500 final, where he took eighth in 4:01.29. He was one spot behind former Ankeny High runner Levi Hill, now a redshirt junior at South Dakota. Hill secured his first all-Summit honor in 4:01.12. Hill was third in Section 1 and Rekow fifth in Section 2. The winner came from Section 2 and was clocked in 3:59.30.

South Dakota sophomore Tommy Hensley, an ex-Urbandale prep, took 10th in the heats of the 800. He missed the final by two spots after placing third in Heat 1.

Alta-Aurelia product Nora Peterson, now a true freshman at South Dakota State, missed scoring for her squad by two positions. Peterson ran 11:01.76 in the steeplechase for 10th. North Dakota's Keeler won another title in 10:00.45. Peterson also ended up 16th overall in the heats of the 1,500. She took fourth in Section 1 in 4:45.11.

At the Patriot League outdoor meet in Annapolis, Maryland, ex-Des Moines Roosevelt runner Adrienne Buettner-Cable secured her best conference finish. The Boston University junior achieved the highest individual Patriot League finish with a runner-up effort in the 10,000. Buettner-Cable crossed the finish line in 34:34.79 in a race won in 34:18.19 on May 15. She was part of a Terriers indoor distance medley relay that took second and was third in the 3,000 and fourth in the 5,000 at the Patriot League indoors this season. Boston University captured third in the team race with 172.25 points.

Another prep from Iowa impressed at the Big Sky event in Portland, Oregon, from May 13-16. Montana junior Truman Thompson, who prepped at Iowa City High, claimed fourth in the 800 final after securing two PRs on the weekend. He ran a new best of 1:49.23 in a race won by Northern Arizona senior Colin Sahlman in 1:47.48. Thompson gained a spot in the final with a runner-up finish in Heat 2 of the 800 in 1:49.58, which set a new best.

Iowa State redshirt senior Quinton Orr improved on a sixth-place finish at Big 12 Outdoors at the meet in Tucson, Arizona, from May 14-16. The Humboldt grad took fourth in the 3,000 steeplechase in 8:43.49, which was just over four seconds off his best. Texas Tech's Titus Kimaru won in 8:32.85.

Cyclone redshirt sophomore Allen Bonnessen ended up 16th in the 10,000 in 31:03.20. He competed for Danville-New London. Iowa State was fifth in the team race with 82.5 points.On the women's side, Oklahoma State freshman Kadence Huck missed qualifying for the 800 final by two spots. The Nashua-Plainfield product ran set a new PR of 2:05.30 while taking third in Heat 2.

Iowa State redshirt senior Bella Heikes, who prepped at Johnston, secured 14th place in the prelims of the 1,500. Heikes ran 4:25.21 to end up fourth in Heat 4. Fellow senior Ashlyn Keeney, an Iowa City Liberty High grad, was ninth in that heat in 4:39.61.

Heikes ended her Cyclone tenure with another 14th-place finish in the 5,000. She ran 16:44.64 as the winner, BYU star freshman Jane Hedengren, ran 15:26.94. The Cyclones were fourth in the team race with 72 points.

Returning to the MVC meet, as promised, hosted by Indiana State, where ex-Cedar Falls prep Derek Woods finished one spot behind his MVC indoor performance in the 800. The Northern Iowa sophomore ran 1:49.71 in the final for fifth. Bradley's Jamie Phillips won in 1:47.54.

Woods earned his spot in the final with a second-place effort in Heat 3 of the prelims in 1:51.51.

The strong Panther distance performances continued in the 10,000, where former Council Bluffs St. Albert athlete Colin Lillie improved on an 11th a year ago by taking fourth place. The redshirt sophomore clocked 30:39.85 in a race won in 30:33.17.

Lillie also scored for the Panthers in the 5,000 with an eighth-place performance. He ran 15:00.20 as Drake sophomore Brenden Heitzig won in 14:15.77.

Scoring solid points for runner-up Northern Iowa was true freshman and Waukee High grad Jonas VanDis. He dropped 15 seconds off his best from the previous week in Ames by crossing the finish line in 9:12.03. The winner, Drake sophomore Xander Kwa, ran 9:00.72.

Also securing eighth place for the Panthers was redshirt sophomore Chase Lauman, who prepped at Pella High. Lauman was timed in 3:55.72 in the final after securing a spot in that race with a runner-up effort in Heat 2 of the prelims in 3:48.27.

Northern Iowa ended up second in the team race with 153 points, with Illinois State tops with 179.5. Drake was fourth with 102.

Bradley star Noelle Steines notched two fifth-place finishes for her third and fourth all-conference honors in just her freshman season. The Tipton grad who started her career at Calamus-Wheatland ran a new best of 2:08.57 in Heat 3 of the 800 to take second place and earn a spot in the final. There, Steines ran 2:10.10 for fifth in a race won in 2:04.92.

In the 1,500, Steines was timed in 4:23.62 to claim four spots for her squad. Steines won Heat 2 of the prelims in 4:31.10. Teammate Wraith won the final in 4:18.31.

Drake freshman Anika Mohrhauser, who competed for Ankeny Centennial, ran 37:42.11 for 12th in the 10,000. The winner ran 35:38.05.

Several Iowans competed at the NJCAA Division I Outdoor Track & Field Championships hosted by New Mexico JC in Hobbs, New Mexico, from May 14-16.

North Iowa Area Community College freshman Gavin Grunhovd grabbed his first first-team All-American honors with a fourth-place effort in the 3,000 steeplechase. The North Iowa (Buffalo Center) product ran 9:44.87 in a race won in 9:17.97. Grunhovd also was fourth in Section 2 in the event run at 3,701 feet of elevation.

Indian Hills freshman and Winfield-Mount Union grad Kohlby Newsom secured two first-team All-American finishes. Newsom ran the third leg on the Warriors' 4x800 relay that took second to Iowa Central in 7:18.73. The Tritons ran 7:18.27.

Newsom also claimed eighth in the 1,500 final in 4:05.64 after qualifying with a third-place finish in 3:54.39. He owned the ninth-best time of the prelims. Des Moines Area Community College sophomore Eli Page was next in the 1,500 final in 4:06.08. Page attended Vinton-Shellsburg. Page was fourth in Heat 1 of the prelims in 3:56.23. The champion ran 4:01.63.

Other Iowa natives competed in the 1,500 heats. DMACC sophomore Zack Stoermer, who competed at Des Moines Lincoln, was ninth in Heat 2 and 32nd overall in 4:06.41. Iowa Western sophomore and ex-Urbandale runner Landon Hartley ended up ninth in Heat 4 and 35th overall in 4:09.47. DMACC freshman Sam Mora was three spots behind Hartley in that heat after running 4:12.16. He graduated from Dallas Center-Grimes.

In the 800 prelims, Southeastern Community College sophomore Peyton Stowers ran 1:54.28 in Heat 4 to take fourth and 19th overall. Stowers prepped at Center Point-Urbana.Iowa Central was the top Iowa team in third with 72 points, with Indian Hills fourth with 60.

The change to move former Treynor prep Alyssa Kulesa to the 3,000 steeplechase paid off for Iowa Western. The Reivers sophomore took fourth place and first-team All-American honors in 12:04.39. Indian Hills sophomore and Prairie City-Monroe grad Tiffani Koonce took 10th in 12:39.61. The winner, Iowa Western sophomore Elizabeth Ewusie, ran 11:18.84.

Kulesa also ran the third leg on the Reivers' 4x800 unit that was second nationally. Iowa Western ran 9:06.14, upended only by New Mexico JC's 8:56.09.

Iowa Central sophomore Alivia Edens ran leadoff on the Tritons' 4x800 that was third nationally in 9:13.54. Indian Hills, with former Albia competitor Abby George and Koonce on the third and fourth legs, secured fourth in 9:13.64. Edens also competed in the 1,500 and took ninth in Heat 1 of the prelims.

New Mexico JC won the national championship trophy with 107.5 points, edging Iowa Western by .5 of a point.

Former Atlantic, Northern Iowa and Dordt University runner Craig Alan Becker, now a redshirt junior at Arkansas State, set a new best in the 1,500 en route to a seventh-place finish at the Sunbelt meet in Mobile, Alabama, May 14-16. Becker ran 3:48.66 for second in Heat 2 of the prelims. He then latched on to seventh in the final in 3:49.17 in a race won in 3:45.82. The Red Wolves took third in the team race with 112.5 points.

Valley High product Cohen Kooker placed in the 3,000 steeplechase for her first first-team ASUN honor. The North Florida sophomore ran a new best of 11:05.32 for eighth. The champion at Hodges Stadium in Jacksonville, Florida, was timed in 10:25.8. Kooker finished the weekend with a 12th-place finish in the 5,000 in 17:37.50. The Ospreys were fourth in the team race with 91 points.

Arkansas senior Ainsley Erzen ended her Razorbacks career at the SEC meet in Auburn, Alabama. The Carlisle grad took fourth in Heat 3 of the 800 in 2:05.68, a time not good enough to earn a spot in the final.

Moving to professional triathlon. Former Buena Vista University athlete and professor Matt Hanson claimed third among the pro men at the Ironman 70.3 Chattanooga in Tennessee on May 17. The resident of Castle Rock, Colorado, finished the 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike and 13.1-mile run in 3:48:11. He had the second-fastest run of the pros, at 1:11:00. He covered the swim in 28:14 and the bike in 2:06:08. The winner was American Jeremy MacLean in 3:45.37. Hanson is a five-time Ironman champion.

Former Johnston and Iowa Central athlete Tyson Wieland of the Runablaze Iowa squad picked up the win at the Black Squirrel Triathlon in Council Bluffs on May 17. The Des Moines man was timed in 53:31 in the event to top John Matson by 19 seconds. He covered the swim in 10:38, the bike in 30:01 and the run in 10:38. The event was shorter than a typical triathlon sprint event.

In Iowa road racing, Runablaze Iowa's Matt Lorenz was a winner at the Marion Arts Festival half marathon on May 16. The Cedar Rapids-area man, 27, ran 1:08:49 to cruise to victory by 8:13. Running Wild Elite's Nathan Hopp, 43, was the top masters finisher in 1:19:05. Fitness Sports Distance Project's Erin Eichler, 27, of Marion was the women's champion in 1:25:34.

NOTE: This blog will be UPDATED.

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This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Mile posts: Items on Mattison Plummer, Shewaye Johnson, Will Lohr, Adrienne Buettner-Cable, Quinton Orr, Gavin Grunhovd, Matt Hanson