When cross country runner Mike Mwangong accepted a scholarship offer to run at Iowa State, he left behind the green vegetation of equatorial Kenya and landed in the frozen tundra of central Iowa.

“They sent me all these pictures of summertime in Iowa,” said Mwangong, senior in transportation and logistics. “I was ready to go back home the first day I got here.”

Despite arriving in Iowa during the harsh winter of 1999, Mwangong decided to stay at Iowa State.

“I don’t like winter. It scares me,” Mwangong said. “You just have to learn to live with it.”

Mwangong grew up in Eldoret, Kenya and started racing in high school. “I used to run for the fun of it,” Mwangong said. “I didn’t know they would pay for school if I ran here.”

Times have certainly changed since then, as Mwangong now competes for the ISU men’s track and cross country teams, and has proven himself on both planes.

Last cross country season he was named a member of the all-Big 12 team, and this spring was an automatic qualifier in the 10,000 meters for the Big 12 men’s outdoor track and field final top performance list.

Mwangong and the rest of the men’s and women’s cross country teams will host Minnesota and Northern Iowa at the ISU Invite Saturday.

Men’s cross country head coach Corey Ihmels, who came to Iowa State in January during the men’s track season, coaches Mwangong and the rest of the distance runners.

“I could tell right away that Mike was talented,” Ihmels said. “He struggled a little during indoor, but he had a great outdoor [track] season.”

Ihmels said that Mwangong is a quiet leader.

“He works hard every day,” he said. “He’s not a vocal leader, but he leads by example. When he says something, it’s important and people listen.”

Mwangong barely missed a chance to compete at the NCAA Championships last season after placing eighth at the Midwest Regional despite a spiked achilles. He said his personal goal for this season is to qualify for Nationals. Mwangong has already had one second-place finish at the ISU Open last month.

“My goal is to run my best,” Mwangong said. “The goal of the team is to make it to Nationals.”

Mwangong said he hasn’t been running very well the past two weeks but hopes to improve in upcoming meets.

“He feels like he hasn’t run as well as he is capable of running,” Ihmels said. “But he’s getting better each week and is one of the top guys in the conference.”

Ihmels said that Mwangong has the ability to become an All-American this year.

Mwangong said he’d also like to improve as a team instead of concentrating on himself as an individual. “Cyclone country is still existing,” he said. “People are starting to turn their heads around and notice us.”

Many athletes have superstitions and routines that they go through before each race, but Mwangong said he warms up with the team before the race and listens to his body while he’s running. “I don’t have a pair of lucky socks,” Mwangong said. “I wish I did but I don’t.”

Mwangong’s warm up before a race consists of an optional 10-15 minute jog followed by stretching and 30-second strides to loosen up. When the race starts, Mwangong said he chooses a place that is right for him and doesn’t let up.

“I always think everyone is training for first place,” Mwangong said. “No one is training for second. It takes mental toughness, you just have to hang on in there and keep rolling.”

Mwangong is concentrating on being successful in academics as well as on the cross country course. He changed his major from management information systems to transportation logistics because it was more fun.

“My dad used to tell me ‘If you don’t like something, don’t do it,'” Mwangong said. “Do whatever you like.”