The fall of 1996 saw Iowa State host the first Big 12 Cross Country Championship meet.

Twelve years later the Cyclones are hosting the Championship meet again this Saturday, with possibly their best chance at victory since then.

ISU cross country coach Corey Ihmels, cited “home-course advantage,” as well as increased parity throughout the press conference when addressing his teams’ chances to the media Monday.

“I think, for this group, just the ability to keep their schedules, to be able to stay normal, those things are going really help,” he said.

The Cyclone men, who enter the weekend ranked No. 22 in the nation, are looking to break into the one of the conference’s top spots.

“On the men’s side — on paper — you’ve got to look at [No. 4] Oklahoma State as probably the favorite,” Ihmels said.

Defending champion Colorado, however, has won all 12 of the cross-country titles handed out since the inception of the Big 12 Conference. The Buffaloes are ranked No. 17 nationally, but will face their stiffest competition in Big 12 competition.

Ihmels views the Cyclones and No. 18 Texas A&M as the next group challenging the two top teams in the competition.

The Cyclone men will be led into the race by Guor Majak, Hillary Bor and senior Kiel Uhl, but Ihmels knows two or three other runners will need to have a good race for Iowa State to have a chance to win.

Ihmels mentioned Yonas Mebrahtu, who is fighting off injury, Kevin Born, who won at the Bradley open earlier this season, and Rico Loy, as runners he expects to step up.

“We’re pretty deep, and, I think for our men to be successful, we need those guys to get up there and try to run with our fifth guys. If we do that I think we’ll be in pretty good shape,” Ihmels said of Mebrahtu and the others.

Sophomore Clayton Carper and junior Zach McFall are two younger guys who could have a huge impact on the race, Ihmels said.

Ihmels thinks the increasing parity in the conference gives Iowa State and others a chance.

“There’s a lot of parity on both sides. Colorado usually comes in as the heavy favorite, and it’s just a little different this year. A lot more teams have a chance to get in the mix,” Ihmels said.

Ihmels’ outlook for the women on Saturday reflects his thoughts on the men’s side.

“We’ve made tremendous progress all year. We came into the year hoping to be in the top half, and I think we’re still sticking to that,” he said.

The ISU women finished seventh last season, but they did that with the help of All-Americans Lisa Koll and Grace Kemmey, both of whom are redshirting this fall. In their absence, junior Paige Ties and freshmen Dani Stack and Meaghan Nelson have stepped up to give great performances this season.

“It’s been interesting for our women without Lisa and Grace as our leaders. We went up to the Bradley Open and won that,” Ihmels said. “I told [the girls] that if you go to the line expecting good things to happen, good things will happen.”

Ihmels decided to redshirt Koll and Kemmey in response to their changing academic demands.

“We think both Lisa and Grace will be in a better position academically and athletically next season,” Ihmels said on the decision. “Unfortunately, we don’t have those two at home to run, but I think for our program it was a really good move for us in the future.”

The individual race favorite on the women’s side will likely be Sally Kipyego from Texas Tech. The Lady Raiders finished second to Colorado last season, led by Kipyego, who has never lost a collegiate cross-country race.

Outside Texas Tech and Colorado, No. 17 Baylor and No. 27 Nebraska will be strong challengers for the team title.

“I think for both sides, the key is just going to be patience,” Ihmels said. “We’re just going to have to go out and run our race, control our nerves early, and at the end of the day, hopefully, come out in a good place.”