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 university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa, United States. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricult ...

(ISU) and competes in the

Big 12 Conference The Big 12 Conference is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida ...

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

. 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 fourth-oldest collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. The conference's members are primarily located in the Midwestern Unite ...

. 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 and Ray Putnam who would go on to win individual NCAA Championships for the

Mile Run The mile run (1,760 yards, 5,280 Foot (unit), feet, or exactly 1,609.344 metres) is a middle-distance running, middle-distance foot race. The history of the mile run event began in England, where it was used as a distance for gambling ...

in the

1927 Events January * January 1 – The British Broadcasting ''Company'' becomes the BBC, British Broadcasting ''Corporation'', when its Royal Charter of incorporation takes effect. John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, John Reith becomes the first ...

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 American football, football. It was formed in January 1907 as the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate ...

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, Jonah Koech, and Jon Brown. Harris was a three time NCAA champion in the 400 meter hurdles in

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 Southeas ...

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 n ...

, 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 en ...

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

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

at the

1984 Los Angeles Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly 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 ...

. Hailing originally from

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

, 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 north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

in the

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, 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 60 ...

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 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 ⵍⵎⵓⵜⴰⵡⴰⵇⵇⵍ ; ; born 15 April 1962) is a Moroccan former hurdler, who won the inaugural women's 400 metres hurdles event at the 1984 Summer Olympics, and is the first Moroccan, ...

. Competing in the 400 Meter Hurdles El Moutawakel won the 1984 Outdoor NCAA Championship and Olympic Gold representing her home country of

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

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

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

majority nation to win Olympic Gold. Iowa State's most recent stars are Lisa Koll and Betsy Saina. Koll is a four time NCAA champions. In the 10,000 Meter Run she won the 2008 and

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

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, were 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 The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

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 collegiate athletic conference in the United States. It consists of 16 full-member universities (3 private universities and 13 public universities) in the states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Okla ...

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 College track and field teams in the United States