It was a season of ups and downs for the men’s cross country team last year. Today, members look to build on their late-season success in 2010-2011 and make it to the NCAA Championships in the coming season.

One of the athletes on the team, Josh Heitkamp, participated in a few of events last season (his freshman year on the team), but was injured through most of the season. He shared in his teammates disappointment about not making nationals — especially after nearly qualifying for them during the regionals.

“We ended up being two spots away from making it to nationals,” Heitkamp said. “Towards the end of the season we were getting better.”

Heitkamp plans to have a healthier season this year. He has already had some experience on the college level and will continue to improve his times.

“I need to take things to the next level,” Heitkamp said. His intent is to take things more seriously than he did at the high school level.

This season Rico Loy and Martin Coolidge will be runners to focus on as well. Loy, a sophomore last season, just missed nationals by one place. Coolidge was his team’s top freshman runner last season.

Heitkamp said head coach Corey Imhels expects the team to be a top 10 contender. The team generally had younger members last year; they will bring a lot more experience to bear on their races in the coming season.

The women’s team will also look to build on its success from last season.

During the season, the women’s team never finished below third place in its events. It finished in first place in the NCAA Midwest Regional and gained an automatic bid for the NCAA Championships. They would eventually finish in eighth place as a team.

Imhels said the women’s performance at regionals may have been the best he’s seen during his coaching tenure at Iowa State.

Like that of the men’s team, the average age of members of women’s team was lower last year. It had few seniors.

Some potential leaders for the coming season include Aliphine Tuliamuk and Betsy Saina. Tuliamuk was the top freshman last year, finishing in the top five four times and finishing 13th at nationals — the best performance of any Iowa State player there last season. Saina, a junior, had two straight second-place finishes in the Big 12 Championships and the NCAA Midwest Regional.

The Cyclones’ 2011 cross country schedule is set to be released in the coming weeks.