The ISU men’s track team only improved on last year’s 11th-place finish in the Big 12 Indoor Championships by one position Friday and Saturday, but the comparison between the two meets for the Cyclones isn’t as close as it sounds.

The Cyclones scored 43 points over the weekend at Lied Recreation Athletic Center to take 10th place. At the same meet last year, they managed only 26 points. Iowa State didn’t take any team titles, but coach Steve Lynn said this team reminded him of past teams that had been successful.

“I’m as proud of these guys as I am some of the teams that won titles, because these kids competed that way,” Lynn said. “We were a lot better team this year than we were last year, there’s no question.”

Examples of what went right: Neil Hines had a personal best in the heptathlon, Jared Lewis had a personal best in the 60-meter dash to take second, Brandon Rooney suffered an injury Friday night and could barely jog Saturday morning but still took fourth in the mile run and Chase Madison competed for the first time this season in the shot put and managed a sixth-place finish.

“Just all the way through the lineup they did a great, great job,” Lynn said. “I’m proud of these guys; you can’t take away what their performances were here.”

Lewis had the highest contribution to the team point total, scoring eight points by taking second in the 60-meter dash with a time of 6.75 seconds. Lewis, a sophomore transfer from Northern Colorado, said he was excited to just have a chance.

“It’s just great. I’m just thankful,” he said. “I didn’t really know what to expect, but it’s great that I’m able to get second in such a good conference.”

The team scoring was the goal, Lewis said.

“In any way that I can help out the team, I’m glad that I can do it,” Lewis said. “When you put the Iowa State jersey on, it’s not about you, it’s about the team. So I’m glad I could contribute.”

Hines added six points with his third-place finish in the heptathlon, with 5,459 points, losing a close second-place battle to Missouri’s Hans Uldal.

Texas’ Donovan Kilmartin, the two-time national champion in the event, won by a landslide.

The finish left Hines with a score good enough for 11th in the nation, based on scores coming into the meet, and leaves Hines on the bubble as to whether he’ll make the NCAA Championships in two weeks.

“I’ll just relax and enjoy this for a day, see what happens,” Hines said. “I did all I could, so hopefully I’ll get in and be able to put together a great meet at nationals.”

Rooney’s fourth-place mile run of 4:06 gave Iowa State five more points, and Madison’s sixth-place shot put throw of 56 feet, 2.50 inches scored 3 points.

Elsewhere, Julian Morris placed fourth in the high jump, setting a personal record, for five points.

David Lantz and Johnny Reel took sixth and eighth respectively in the 1000-meter run for four more points and Guor Majak had a personal best to finish sixth in the 3,000-meter run for three points, and also finished six in the 5,000-meter run.

The 4×400-meter relay team finished off the meet with a fifth-place finish, providing four more points.

Also, Kellen Burl took seventh in the 60-meter hurdles, rounding out the Cyclones’ point total.

The team now looks toward the last NCAA regional qualifying meet this weekend in Ames.