Some things are just meant to be.

That is how junior distance runner Mohamed Hrezi said he felt about the journey he has been on that has now brought him to Iowa State and the Cyclone track and field program.

Hrezi has spent time with three different university track programs: Central Connecticut State University, the University of Texas-Austin and, of course, Iowa State. Hrezi said that the road to Iowa State has been a long one.

“I was at Central Connecticut State University for two years,” Hrezi said. “Initially when I went there and then they changed the coaching staff so I had a coach my freshman year, and that went pretty well, but then he was fired, and then there was another coach who took over.”

Hrezi said that his new training was “weird” for him because his new coach was coaching him with the mindset Hrezi would be a 10,000-meter runner, which Hrezi knew was not his strength and how he could be best utilized.

After not performing at his best during the outdoor season his sophomore year, Hrezi informed his coach at Central Connecticut State that he would be transferring. Hrezi then committed to the Texas Longhorns.

“So then I moved down [to Austin] and everything and I met the coach down there,” Hrezi said. “He told me that he would train me for one semester before I go to school because for one semester; I was just going to work on my residency down there.”

After training for awhile, Hrezi said that everything was going well on the track and field side of things, but he had hit a bump on the academic side.

“I found out that the accounting program wasn’t accepting me right away,” Hrezi said. “So I talked to my dad and [he] said that school is more important than running right now and I need to graduate on time.”

Hrezi once again packed his bags and headed home to Connecticut. While at home, ISU assistant coach Travis Hartke was at Hrezi’s house recruiting Hrezi’s younger brother to run at Iowa State.

Hartke said that he had no idea about Mohamed until he stepped into the Hrezi living room and that it was one of those things that just worked out surprisingly well.

“Sometimes you get lucky,” Hartke said of Hrezi’s recruitment. “You’ve got to be looking at the right spots. It’s hard to get Connecticut people here and you’ve got to be looking at the right spots and you’ve got to be at the right place at the right time.”

After watching tape of Hrezi run, Hartke encouraged him to schedule a visit to Iowa State, which Hrezi agreed to do.

“I came [to Iowa State] and my first day here, I called my dad and I said, ‘Dad, I’m going to Iowa State. I love it here,'” said Hrezi. “The team was awesome, the campus was awesome, and the coaches were awesome.”

The next weekend, Hrezi filled out scholarship papers and officially became a student-athlete at Iowa State.

After competing in this past indoor season, Hrezi will now redshirt the outdoor season in hopes of getting a strong training schedule that works for him and building his strength for the future. He will have one full year of eligibility plus one year of cross-country and outdoor track.

Hartke said that Hrezi has done a very nice job in training and competition since coming to Iowa State and expects him to do very well once he develops consistency with one program.

“He’s a guy that came in and transitioned really well,” Hartke said. “He follows along, believes what you tell him and doesn’t question anything. His transition was pretty good, and that’s why he had a good indoor season too.”

Hrezi said he has felt very comfortable at Iowa State and that it just feels like home here and is a better fit for him than his two previous schools. He said he only finds one thing strange living in Iowa as opposed to Connecticut.

“The only weird thing here is that you guys say pop instead of soda,” Hrezi laughed.