After a weekend off following the ISU Open, the men’s cross country team returned to action with an impressive fifth-place finish Saturday in the Roy Griak Invitational at the University of Minnesota.

The meet, which is one of the larger meets in the nation each year based on participants, featured 34 teams and 301 runners from schools around the country.

Coach Corey Ihmels said he is proud of his team for finishing fifth in such a big meet and counts the result as a big step for the program.

“The guys did a tremendous job; they gave me 110 percent. They took the program back to a different level,” Ihmels said.

“It’s a big step for our program. We beat some pretty good teams and we beat some ranked teams. It was a great effort to give.”

Ihmels also said after a strong showing in the Roy Griak Invitational, his team should be confident with its chances of being ranked in the next U.S. Cross Country Coaches Association poll that will be released Tuesday. Iowa State has not been ranked since 1997.

“It should get us ranked, but you never know,” he said. “I’d be surprised if we’re not.”

Kiel Uhl paced the Cyclones with a time of 24:35.20, good enough for seventh place. Following the meet, Ihmels had nothing but good things to say about Uhl, who has been very consistent during the early part of his sophomore campaign.

“Kiel did a great job. He kind of picked up where he left off last year. He’s going to get better as the year goes on,” Ihmels said.

Uhl said he felt good about the race, but feels there’s always room for improvement.

“I felt pretty good but I made a few mistakes,” Uhl said. “If you’re happy with what you do then you never get better.”

Uhl said he’s enthusiastic about his team competing with ranked teams.

“I’m more excited about the team finishing in fifth place,” he said. “The confidence that our team can be in the mix is really important.”

Ihmels said after watching his men run against programs such as No. 8 Arizona and No. 10 Kansas, he feels this team has realized what it takes to be nationally competitive.

“They’re starting to believe and starting to understand what it takes to be one of the top teams in the country,” he said.