The ISU men’s indoor track team is solidly built on a foundation of athletes from the midwest, but it also sports a bit of international flavor as well.

Sophomore long jumper Daniel Kaczmarczyk made the biggest jump of his life when he decided to leave his home of Rybrik, Poland to come to Iowa State as a member of the men’s track team.

The move has paid off for both Kaczmarczyk and the team.

Kaczmarczyk was named Big 12 Indoor Freshman of the Year in 2001 when he won the long jump at the Big 12 Indoor meet with a jump of 25′ 6 1/4″.

He has qualified for both the indoor and outdoor NCAA Championship meets, placing ninth at last year’s indoor meet.

Head coach Steve Lynn is pleased with Kaczmarczyk’s performance thus far, even with the high expectations he had for the jumper coming in.

“Daniel has been everything we’ve hoped for, ” Lynn said. “Daniel is a great talent and a fun kid, and he’s become one of the top guys in the country.”

Of course, Kaczmarczyk hasn’t just been successful at Iowa State.

He was also a national junior champion in Poland, and finished in seventh place at the International Athletic Association World Junior Championships in 2000.

This was where he caught the eye of several college coaches, including Nebraska and Texas. But Kaczmarczyk already had his mind made up.

“After the World Championships, coaches were calling me, but I knew I was coming to Iowa State,” he said.

As far as his goals for this indoor season, he keeps it simple.

“I don’t want to say I’ll jump a distance and then don’t, because I’ll be disappointed,” he said.

But Kaczmarczyk does have one specific goal in mind.

“I want to jump far,” he said.

The strategy has worked for Kaczmarczyk so far. He placed first in the ISU Holiday Classic in December and at last weekend’s meet in Cedar Falls.

He also placed fifth in the ISU Open, the first meet of the new year for the Cyclones.

He was a little disappointed with his performance, citing a lack of practice, because he didn’t get to jump during the winter break while he was back home in Poland.

“We have to jump a lot. We have to be perfect, ” Kaczmarczyk said. “They don’t have the facilities to jump there.”

Kaczmarczyk lived in Poland his entier life, until he came to Ames, but he said adapting to Iowa hasn’t been all that challenging.

“I don’t have many problems adjusting to the culture. People here are a more relaxed, sometimes it’s like they don’t care. I like that,” he said.

With such an unusual last name, pronounced, “catch-mar-check,” Daniel reacts with pleasure when someone is able to pronounce it correctly, because it happens so rarely, especially with his professors.

“I will usually have to repeat it three or four times for them, and they’ll just be like, `Oh, all right,'” he said.

Kaczmarczyk’s coaches and teammates will also be saying, “All right,” as long as Daniel continues to perform like he has been.