Although the 2009-10 track and field campaign isn’t quite over for the Cyclone men and women, they have managed to earn substantial successes already.

During the indoor portion of the track and field season, the Cyclones were led by senior distance runner and now nine-time All-American Lisa Koll.

Koll spent the majority of the season on top of the track and field rankings as she broke records and ultimately earned an NCAA championship. Koll became the second-fastest American collegiate performer ever on any indoor track in the 5,000-meter run after she ran away from the field in 15:29.65 front of a great crowd at the ISU Classic.

Koll also had the number one time during the majority of the indoor season in the 3,000-meter run and was the only Cyclone to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Fayetteville, Ark.

Koll was barely edged out in the 3,000 in Arkansas, but brought home an individual NCAA title in the 5,000. Koll’s efforts at the NCAA Championships brought the ISU women’s track team its highest finish ever at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships with its 10th-place finish.

Koll’s successes allowed her to be named the Big 12 Indoor Performer of the Year, the first such honor in her career.

Koll was joined as a Big 12 champion by men’s distance runner Hillary Bor. Bor was able to compete in front of a home crowd at the Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships inside Lied Recreation Athletic Center and went on to finish first in the one-mile run at the Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships.

The junior from Eldoret, Kenya, came home in a time of 4:12.59, allowing the men’s track team to have its highest finish at the conference championships since 2000 with a seventh-place finish.

The women also had their best finish in conference since the year 2000 as they finished in sixth place.

The Cyclones’ movement up the ladder in the track powerhouse of the Big 12 Conference shows that progress is being made under track and field coach Corey Ihmels, currently in his third season as the front man of the program.

“Progress is being made,” Ihmels said after his team’s performance at the Big 12 Championships. “The women went from 11th last season to sixth this season. The meet ebbs and flows so there were ups and downs, but the fact that we are getting better is undeniable.”

After showing undeniable progress during the indoor season, the Cyclones set their sights on moving into the sunshine to compete in the outdoor portion of their season.

The season again started off with a dominating performance from Koll as she broke the collegiate record in the 10,000-meter run at the Stanford Invitational as she won with a time of 31:18.07.

Koll’s time at the Stanford Invitational currently ranks as the sixth-fastest time by an American female runner in history.

Adding to the success of the track teams was the throwers group lead by first-year coach Grant Wall. Behind Wall’s coaching, junior Britta Christofferson placed fourth at the Sun Angel Classic in the hammer throw and now owns the second farthest throw in the event in ISU history.

Men’s throwers sophomore Zack Richards and junior Josh Koglin now rank second and third all-time in the hammer throw as well after finishing first and second in the same event with their throws of 195-10 and 194-07.

The Cyclones also had great success at one of the most prestigious outdoor track meets of the year, the Drake Relays held in Des Moines.

The Cyclones were able to take home two Drake Relays titles thanks to the efforts of the women’s distance medley relay team and the performance of redshirt freshman Rico Loy. The distance medley team was lead by native Iowans who brought a cardinal and gold victory to the blue oval of Drake Stadium.

Seniors Koll and Erin Penticoff were joined by sophomores Kianna Elahi and Semehar Tesfaye as they broke the school record at the event by nearly 20 seconds en route to Iowa State’s first ever win in the distance medley relay at the 101st running of the annual Drake Relays.

The Cyclones look to continue to build a winning track and field program at Iowa state and improve as the rest of their season progresses. 

The remaining meets on the schedule for the track and field squads include the Big 12 Outdoor Track and Field Championships on May 14-16 in Columbia, Mo., and the NCAA Championships from June 10-13 in Eugene, Ore.