During his tenure at Iowa State, Kiel Uhl has had many proud moments.

Uhl has been named to many Academic All-American, All-Conference and All-American teams. He has been slated into ISU track and field history as one of only seven runners to ever break 29 minutes in the 10,000 meter run.

Uhl helped bring the ISU cross country team into the national spotlight and revived the track team.

“He’s one of the first guys from the state of Iowa that really decided to come here to help turn things around, I think he was definitely the guy that we needed to get things started,” said head coach Corey Ihmels. “It seems like he’s been here forever. I wish he could be here forever.”

From his freshman year to his junior year, Uhl, who returns to Drake tonight in the 5,000-meter run, has helped rebuild both the track and cross-country teams.

Uhl started out as a simple Iowa-born and -raised runner. Uhl graduated from Roosevelt High School, right outside Des Moines. A standout track athlete all through high school, he really hit the high-school track scene after his outstanding performances at Drake Relays his senior year in high school.

At the Drake Relays in 2005 Uhl finished fourth in the 1,600-meter run and capped off his Drake Relays tenure with a first place effort in the 3,200-meter run. Uhl also ended his senior season as state champion in the 3,200.

Uhl hit the ground running when he came to Iowa State. Although he redshirted his freshman outdoor track season, Uhl was crowned USA Junior National Cross Country champion. He then went on to lead the team at the World Junior Cross Country Championships by finishing 36th.

Uhl continued the momentum he had built up all the way through his sophomore and junior seasons, hitting personal record marks in the 5,000 and 10,000 meter run and earned All-Big 12 and Academic All-American honors along the way.

In addition to building the prestige of the program, Uhl has drawn some of his teammates to Iowa State, such as Guor Marial, Uhl’s training partner.

“He’s one of the key factors that helped me decide to come to Iowa State,” Marial said. “I saw him running in high school and I knew that to run with that kind of person, it’s going to help me a lot and it’s going to really impact our team, which he did.”

Marial and Ihmels also described Uhl as a fierce competitor. In track and field it takes much more than just physical strength and toughness, it takes mental toughness too — something Uhl has.

“It doesn’t matter what shape he is in, when he steps on the track and gets in the race, he’s always competitive,” Marial said, “He always goes out to compete hard and put everything on the line. By the time he finishes, he always makes sure that he did everything he could in that race.”

Uhl will return to Drake Stadium this weekend for Drake Relays again this weekend for the 100th anniversary of the Relays.

“It’s always good going back to Drake,” Uhl said. “I’ve competed there every year since I was a sophomore in high school. It’s a comfortable place to race and I know a lot of people there, so it’s fun to compete in front of people you know.”

Something that started out as just another race in high school has turned into a college career that will be remembered in ISU history as a great one. Uhl will go back into Drake Stadium this Thursday night under the lights and compete on the track where his ISU career began.