No matter the sport, one athlete doesn’t make a program. But, for the ISU cross country program, having a runner like Kiel Uhl on the team doesn’t hurt.

Uhl is the only Cyclone runner to have participated in four National Championship meets, and led the Cyclones to their best finish in the Championships two weeks ago in Terra Haute, Ind. Along with head coach and mentor Corey Ihmels, Uhl has helped Iowa State move up in national standings year-by-year.

“He’s meant so much to [our program],” Ihmels said. “He’s been day in and day out, on and off the field; he’s just been a great leader.”

Ihmels recruited Uhl out of Roosevelt High, in Des Moines, where he was state champion twice in the 3200-meter run and was named to the All-State team for both track and cross country.

“He was one of the first blue-chip guys that said, ‘I’m going to come to Iowa State, and I’m going to help turn this thing around,’” Ihmels said.

Things have definitely taken a turn for the better since Uhl’s freshman season, in 2005. The Cyclones missed out on the NCAA Championships in both 2005 and 2006, but behind Uhl they qualified for their Championship meet in a decade.

Individually, Uhl has finished in the top-75 runners in all but one of his National Championship appearances. The exception came in his second appearance, when he ran his way to a 121-place finish in the 250-man field.

Ihmels and Uhl each set some lofty goals coming into the season, and the difference came in the direction of their goals.

“He really wanted to be All-American at the end of the year, and he just missed that,” Ihmels said. “It’s unfortunate he didn’t meet that goal, but I don’t think you can let that define your season.”

Uhl came into the year with a bit of a different mindset, when it came to achieving personal and team goals, however.

“I’ve always set personal goals first in past seasons, but this year I felt that setting team goals was more important,” Uhl said. “I knew that I’d have to achieve the team goals in order to achieve my personal goals as well.”

Not only has Uhl achieved great personal goals on the course, but he’s been outstanding in the classroom as well. He earned academic All-Big 12 honors the last three seasons, working toward a degree in architecture.

Uhl’s classroom work, however, demands sometimes interfere with his cross country commitment.

“With school, I wasn’t able to be at practice every day,” Uhl said. “I’d say I wasn’t so much an active leader, more a leader by example.”

Uhl’s leadership was on display in every meet, as the Cyclones climbed into the top-25 nationally and earned a 17th-place finish, their highest since Ihmels was an All-American at Iowa State.

Even before Uhl arrived on campus he had a special connection with his coach. He’s been seen as a protege of Ihmels, and looks at his coach as a mentor on and off the track.

“Getting to work closely together with him, we’ve built a really close relationship,” Uhl said.

“He’s been a mentor, someone that really has helped me through the past few years. We had a good relationship when he recruited me, and that’s one of the main reasons I chose Iowa State. I think we’ve got a strong relationship that will last forever, hopefully.”

Ihmels doesn’t pass up any opportunity to talk about Uhl, and doesn’t waste any time to talk about their relationship, either.

“You get to a point where you think of your athletes as family, and you love them like your own,” Ihmels said. “I just can’t thank him enough for what he’s done for us, and what he’s going to continue to do for us, down the road.

“He’s always kind of followed along; he’s been easy to coach, and he’s made me a lot better coach than I was when I came here.”