Corey Ihmels paced an injury-hounded men’s track team that came away with an impressive finish at the Big 12 Indoor Track Meet on Feb. 21 and 22.

Ihmels won two events for his Iowa State team, placing second to the defending national champions and host of the meet, Nebraska.

With a time of 2 minutes, 24.38 seconds in the 1,000-meter run, and a finishing mark of 4:05.83 in the mile run. Ihmels was the only person at the meet to win two events.

“Without a doubt the top performance was Corey. He was the only double winner, when his events were less than an hour apart,” said Men’s Track Team Head Coach Steve Lynn.

Lynn also said he plans to see Ihmels receive the MVP award for the meet because of his double wins.

“No one has been good enough to do that for quite a while. Corey a year ago was really struggling and it is good to see him run so well now. It was really gratifying,” Lynn said.

Other top performances came from Jamie Beyer in the shot put and the weight throw.

Beyer won the shot put with a throw of 61 feet and 2 inches, which puts him second in ISU history in the event. He also placed second in the 35-pound weight throw with a mark of 61 feet 11 inches.

In the 55-meter hurdles, Jason Woods placed first with a time of 7.26 seconds.

“Jason made improvements in his time. He ran nearly 0.3 seconds faster this year,” Lynn said.

Frank Nwankpa, with a bad ankle, finished in a disappointing second place in the 55-meter hurdles with a time of 6.25.

“I didn’t feel good at all. I was running to win the meet,” Nwankpa said, who hopes to win the NCAA meet in two weeks.

Stepping it up and placing third in the event was Quinn Harris of Iowa State with a time of 6.32 seconds. Harris also had a fourth- place finish in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.72 seconds.

“He really stepped it up. He had a great meet,” Nwankpa said of Harris.

In the 800-meter run, Brian Smith finished with a time of 1:53.78 and a fifth place finish.

The Cyclones finished the meet strong with a needed win over Colorado in the 4×400-meter relay to ensure a second-place team finish. The team consisted of Frank Nwanpka, Brian Smith, Jason Woods, and Randy Thompson.

Even though the Cyclones came in with a strong place at the meet, injuries once again slowed the team.

Kevin Farrow, one of the leading distance runners for the team, broke his shoulder when he fell from his bike the day before the team left for the meet.

Lynn was proud of his team for not giving up and getting down about the misfortune.

“They responded well on Saturday. The meet was really a tale of two days,” Lynn said.

Kris Curnyn led the women’s team, which finished seventh at the meet.

Curnyn finished second in the shot put with a throw of 48 feet and 9 inches. She also finished second in the 20-pound weight throw with a mark of 61 feet and 3 inches.

“I’m pleased with them being my best throws of the season. I’m hoping to do better in the weight throw,” Curnyn said.

Kim Iverson placed fourth in the 1,000 meter run with a time of 2:53.

“I didn’t really expect to do that well. It was through the ability that God had given me that I did do that well. I just want to give him all the credit,” Iverson said.

Sydney Pounds ran a time of 17 minutes flat to capture the 5,000-meter race. She also placed eighth in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 9:54.

“I didn’t expect to win, I was just going for a top-five finish,” Pounds said.

The team was proud of their performance, but a little disappointed not to get in the top six.

“We were hoping to get in the top half, but it just didn’t happen,” Curnyn said.