The Cyclone cross-country team saw many changes heading into the 2009 season on both the men’s and women’s sides.

The season started with the Iowa Intercollegiate, formerly known as the ISU Open, in Ames. Running unattached, true freshmen Marley Crusch and Taylor Peterson finished fourth and fifth.

Crusch finished the 5,000-meter race in 18:47, while Peterson finished only 11 seconds after her teammate.

The women finished first overall at Iowa Intercollegiate, while the men, led by junior Daniel Murray, finished second as a team.

The first major obstacle for both teams was the Roy Griak Invitational at the University of Minnesota. Despite the impressively large field of runners for both races, both the Cyclone men and women finished first.

Guor Marial led the men with a second-place finish of 24:51, while junior Hillary Bor followed with a seventh-place finish of 25:05. Sophomore Yonas Mebrahtu crossed the finish line only a second behind Bor to place ninth. The Cyclone men finished with 71 points, only three points ahead of Oklahoma, who finished with 74 points.

All five of the women’s placing runners finished in the top 10, led by Koll and sophomore Betsy Saina who finished second and third. The Cyclone women, who finished with 31 points, sat a full 17 points ahead of Minnesota, who finished second with 48 points.

The Cyclone women placed third in the team standings at the Big 12 Championships in Columbia, Mo., — their best finish at the Big 12’s in the program’s history. Koll crossed the finish line first for the Cyclones, finishing the 6,000-meter race third overall with a time of 21:17. The Cyclone men, led by Marial, finished fourth overall in the team standings.

At the NCAA Regionals, both teams had a third-place showing. Koll and freshman Aliphine Tuliamuk led the women with third and 10th-place finishes, followed closely by Kemmey, who finished 16th.

Bor led the men by finishing fifth overall with a time of 30:55. Marial finished the 10,000-meter race sixth overall, just one second behind Bor.

The 2009 NCAA Championship meet in Terre Haute, Ind., marked the first time both the men and women qualified for the national event since 1995, and was the first time since 1990 in which both teams finished within the top 17 of their respective competitive fields.

The women placed 17th in their first trip to the NCAA Championships since 1996.

Koll finished 11th overall with a time of 20:16 to earn All-America honors for the third time in her collegiate career in the sport of cross-country.

Bor led the men to a 16th-place finish after placing 37th overall with a time of 30:25 to earn All-America honors.

Mebrahtu finished 40th overall only three seconds after Bor, just missing the cut to earn All-America honors.

Marial, who earned All-America honors in 2008 after finishing 37th at the NCAA meet, finished 103rd overall with a total time of 31:13, ending the Sudanese native’s collegiate career.