Iowa State Cyclones track and field represents

Iowa State University Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

(ISU) and competes in the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its ...

NCAA Division I NCAA Division I (D-I) is the highest level of College athletics, intercollegiate athletics sanctioned by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States, which accepts players globally. D-I schools include the major ...

. The team is coached by Martin Smith, he is currently in his 4th year at Iowa State. Originally, the men's and women's teams were considered separate; but beginning in the 2007 season the two teams were combined and are now operated as one single sport at the university. The Cyclones host their home indoor meets at Lied Recreational Facility and their home outdoor meets at the Cyclone Sports Complex, both are located on Iowa State's campus.

History

Men's

The Cyclones first put together a squad in 1921, competing in the

Missouri Valley Conference The Missouri Valley Conference (also called MVC or simply "The Valley") is the third-oldest collegiate athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the midwest. History The MVC was established ...

. They experienced their first success under head coach and former track standout Robert Simpson, he coached at ISU from 1926 to 1937. Simpson molded Iowa State's first track stars in

Ray Conger Raymond Milton Conger (November 12, 1904 – October 23, 1994) was an American middle-distance runner. He held the world record for the 1,000 yards and the American record for the 1,500 metres. In the U.S. national championships, Conger was ...

and Ray Putnam who would go on to win individual

NCAA Championships The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges and ...

for the

Mile Run The mile run (1,760 yards or exactly 1,609.344 metres) is a middle-distance foot race. The history of the mile run event began in England, where it was used as a distance for gambling races. It survived track and field's switch to ...

in the 1927 and

1931 Events January * January 2 – South Dakota native Ernest Lawrence invents the cyclotron, used to accelerate particles to study nuclear physics. * January 4 – German pilot Elly Beinhorn begins her flight to Africa. * January 22 – Sir I ...

respectively. After struggling for several decades the Cyclones reached new highs under Coach Bill Bergan. The Cyclones had finished last or next to last in 21-straight

Big Eight Conference The Big Eight Conference was a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)-affiliated Division I-A college athletic association that sponsored football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Associatio ...

outdoor meets before his arrival, under his leaderships they won 10 of 14 Big Eights Conference outdoor track championships. ISU athletes achieved All-America honors 104 times and captured 156 Big Eight individual titles under Bergan's direction. Three individual standouts from Bergan's squads were

Danny Harris Danny Lee Harris (born September 7, 1965) is an American former track and field athlete who specialized in the 400-meter hurdles (400 mH), in which he won silver medals at the 1984 Olympics and the 1987 World Championships. Hurdling car ...

, Jonah Koech, and Jon Brown. Harris was a three time NCAA champion in the

400 meter hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once a ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeast A ...

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

, and

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

. Harris would then go on to win a silver medal representing the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

at the

1984 Los Angeles Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and also known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the secon ...

. Hailing originally from

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, Jonah Koech is one of the most decorated athletes in Iowa State's history. He was a member of six Big Eight championship squads as well as winning six individual conference titles. Koech's marquee event was the 5,000 meter run, where he won three NCAA Indoor Championships in 1990, 1991, and 1993. In addition to Jon Brown's 1992 NCAA Indoor Championship in the 5,000 meter run, he would go on to represent

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

in the

1996 File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, and

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

Olympic games. After Bergan retired in 1994, the team would once again struggle to compete until the arrival of current head coach Martin Smith. In Smith's four years the biggest individual success has been Edward Kemboi. In 2015 Kemboi won NCAA titles for the 800 Meter Run in both the

Indoor Indoor(s) may refer to: *the interior of a building *Indoor environment, in building science, traditionally includes the study of indoor thermal environment, indoor acoustic environment, indoor light environment, and indoor air quality *Built envi ...

and Outdoor championships.

Women's

The Iowa State Women's Track and Field team first got their start in 1973 under Head Coach Chris Murray. Their first individual success was Peg Neppel-Darrah when she won two AIAW titles at the 1976 AIAW Outdoor Championships in both the Two Mile and Three Mile run. Iowa State's most decorated track and field athlete wouldn't arrive until 1984 in Moroccan runner,

Nawal El Moutawakel Nawal El Moutawakel (Amazigh: ⵏⴰⵡⴰⵍ ⵍⵎⵓⵜⴰⵡⴰⵇⵇⵉⵍ ; ar, نوال المتوكل; born 15 April 1962) is a Moroccan former hurdler, who won the inaugural women's 400 metres hurdles event at the 1984 Summer Olympics, ...

. Competing in the

400 Meter Hurdles The 400 metres hurdles is a track and field hurdling event. The event has been on the Olympic athletics programme since 1900 for men and since 1984 for women. On a standard outdoor track, 400 metres is the length of the inside lane, once a ...

El Moutawakel won the 1984 Outdoor NCAA Championship and Olympic Gold representing her home country of

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. With her win she became the first Moroccan woman and first woman from a

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

majority nation to win Olympic Gold. Iowa State's most recent stars are

Lisa Koll Lisa Uhl (née Koll) (born August 31, 1987, Fort Dodge, Iowa) is an American runner. She is a four-time NCAA Division One champion, current NCAA record holder in the 10,000 meters, and the sixth fastest American woman to ever cover that distanc ...

and

Betsy Saina Betsy Saina (born 30 June 1988) is a Kenyan athlete in long distance running. Early life Saina was born in Kenya on 30 June 1988. She began running as a teenager in Eldoret, Kenya with hopes to pursue education at Itigo Girls High School. Her ...

. Koll is a four time NCAA champions. In the 10,000 Meter Run she won the 2008 and

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

Outdoor Championships and in the 5,000 Meter Run she won the 2010 Indoor Championship 2010 Outdoor Championship. Koll would go on to represent the

at the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

in the 10,000 Meter Run. While at Iowa State Betsy Saina won the 5,000 Meter Run at the 2012 Indoor NCAA Championship and the 10,000 Meter Run at the 2013 Outdoor NCAA Championship. She would then go on to place fourth in the 10,000 Meter Run at the

Rio Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro d ...

Championships

Men's team championships

Women's team championships

Men's Indoor Individual NCAA Champions

Men's Outdoor Individual NCAA Champions

Women's Indoor Individual National Champions

Women's Outdoor Individual National Champions

Olympians

Facilities

Iowa State track athletes train and compete in one of the finest indoor facilities in the world. Iowa State's $13 million Lied Recreation-Athletic Facility complements Iowa State's outdoor track complex. The combination gives Cyclone track athletes first-rate, year-round practice facilities. The Lied Recreation-Athletic Facility was the site of the 1998, 2000 and 2007

Big 12 The Big 12 Conference is a college athletic conference headquartered in Irving, Texas, USA. It consists of ten full-member universities. It is a member of Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) for all sports. Its fo ...

Indoor Track and Field Championships. The indoor facility includes a 300-meter track that is one of the largest and fastest indoor surfaces in the world. Over the summer of 1999 the track was resurfaced at a cost of over $600,000 with a mondo surface, showing ISU's commitment to being amongst the best in the nation. Their home meets are held at the recently opened Cyclone Sports Complex. The $13 million facility opened in 2012.

References

External links

* {{Big 12 Conference track and field navbox 1859 establishments in Iowa