The ISU track and field program embarked on a tough rebuilding project prior to the 2008 track and field season, which made for long indoor and outdoor seasons for both the men and women.

The ISU men finished 11th in both the Big 12 Indoor and Outdoor Championships last season, while the women managed a 10th-place finish indoors and a ninth-place finish outdoors.

The rebuilding effort was brought about after the coaching staff was rehauled after the 2007 season. Five coaches in the program were declined contract extensions, and then-distance coach Corey Ihmels  was promoted to head coach of both the men’s and women’s programs.

“Last year we had the first year of a change in the coaching staff, and naturally in that change I think there were some bumps along the way,” Ihmels said regarding his teams’ struggles last season. “We spent a lot of time trying to get the athletes to buy into what we were trying to accomplish, what our vision was, what our long-term plan was.”

This season, however, Ihmels leads a young group of athletes into the second year of the new system and has hope for progress, starting with this weekend’s ISU Open on Friday and Saturday.

“We weren’t maybe all moving in the same direction last year, whereas this year I feel that as we start the indoor season we’re all moving in the right direction,” Ihmels said. “We all understand what we’re trying to get accomplished.”

Assistant coach John Dagata  cited tremendous work ethic from the athletes as well as coaches when talking about the progress of the program.

“We’ve got good leadership from the top down,” Dagata said. “It all starts with our head coach being very clear about what we as coaches need to do, and the amount of work he wants from us.  We’ve come a long way.”

Dagata was hired in September of 2007 to work with a young group of throwers featuring very little depth and even less experience, a very similar situation to that of sprints coach Nate Wiens, new to this year’s squad, and jumps coach Pete Herber.

“I think every group on this team is working extremely hard,” Dagata said. “The jumps group has come a long way, and what coach Wiens has done with the sprinters in less than a year has been very good.”

Several athletes have been on the team through the restructuring of the coaching staff, including Lisa Koll , Grace Kemmey, senior cross country star Kiel Uhl  and senior hurdler Eric Parker .

“For the cross country guys it hasn’t been too much of an adjustment,” Uhl said. “I think when one area sees success, everybody else kind of buys in. It’s a push and pull kind of thing.”

Still, this Cyclone team is young and largely inexperienced, and the rebuild is going to be a team-wide effort over several years.

“It’s a combination of everything,” Ihmels said. “We’ve got to have a lot of good things happen in a lot of different areas.”