Despite the cold wind in Ames Friday, junior Dan Taylor led a pack of ISU runners who took the first eight places at the ISU 4K and 6K.

The men’s team took 11 of the 12 top places.

Taylor, whose first-place winning time of 19:04.79, didn’t think the weather affected the team.

“That’s the strong point of this team,” he said. “[We look at the weather] and say, ‘Look at the advantage we have on the other team.’ We take a positive from the bad weather.”

Taylor was followed by teammates Ryan French (19:25.41), Ryan Pence (19:28.86), Corey Ylinen (19:35.37), Craig Cartier (19:41.49), Jon Reis (19:43.89), Abraham Rotich (19:51.44) and Leif Lomeland in eighth with a time of 19:54.14.

“Our focus was to run in a pack,” Taylor said. “We’re getting better every meet. It’s pretty cool to be this intense. We have a lot of good things going for us,”

Taylor said “top guns” Grant Shadden and Alfred Singoei, who placed first and 15th respectively at the Midwest Collegiate Open Sept. 19, didn’t run.

Men’s head coach Corey Ihmels was impressed with how the seniors — French, Ylinen, Cartier, and Rotich — ran.

“This is the first time all of our seniors stepped up and did well at the same time. Hopefully, we’ll do the same in two weeks at La Crosse,” Ihmels said.

Taylor said with the seniors stepping up, it will not only help the team this season but in the future and in recruiting.

“They’re the obvious leaders,” Taylor said.

“It’s really important they step up so [the underclassmen] can follow their lead.”

For the women, senior Lindsey Nye finished the 4K run in sixth place with a time of 14:40.42.

Last week at the Roy Griak Invitational in Minnesota, Nye was unable to finish because of stomach problems.

“Last week was a big disappointment for me. Stomach problems were quite the hindrance,” Nye said.

“I wanted to come out and run a strong race, especially after last week.”

Women’s head coach Dick Lee said Nye’s early start in the race is crucial for the 4K run.

“She stayed where she needed to be and got position early,” he said.

Lee also said some the other runners did much better than last week.

“Last week, one of our freshmen, [Madeline] Peck, had her eyes opened up at the level of competition at Minnesota, but she did well today,” Lee said.

“Jenny Mockler is improving each week.”

Mockler placed 16th (15:15.64) but was disappointed with her finish.

She said she expected a top-five finish from herself, but does see improvement.

“My concentration wasn’t there,” Mockler said.

“Mentally, I’m not prepared but my fitness is there.”

Lee said he is awaiting the return of Krysta Metz and Meredith McKean and hopes they will be ready for the meet in La Crosse, Wis., Oct. 16.