It was a Thanksgiving break full of firsts for Iowa State athletics.

The volleyball team became the first squad in school history to make it to the NCAA Tournament, the NCAA Cross Country Championships were held on ISU’s new cross country course for the first time and Cyclone running back Troy Davis became the first sophomore to rush for over 2,000 yards in a Division I football season.

That’s a whole lot to be proud of if you’re a Cyclone fan, no matter what sport is your favorite.

ISU head volleyball coach Jackie Nunez, in only her third season as the Cyclones’ skipper, has taken her team to a milestone never achieved by a netter squad at this university.

The Cyclones are sitting at 21-11 going into the match at home this Wednesday and received a pretty good seed in their bracket. The team’s win over Colorado in the Big Eight Tournament this weekend helped that cause. ISU finished second in the conference tourney after losing to top-rated Nebraska in the finals.

The players waited in anticipation at the Rec Center as they watched the satellite broadcast of the teams receiving bids to the tournament. When Colorado was given a bid, the Cyclones knew they had a bid locked up.

Kudos to the Cyclone netters after last year’s disappointment in not getting a bid despite racking up the best record in school history at 24-11.

The ISU cross country team experienced the thrill of hosting the championships on their new home course, but they unfortunately didn’t fare as well as they would have liked.

The men were defending national champs, but finished this year at 18th. Injuries and one runner getting the flu just before the meet were too much to handle for Head Coach Bill Bergan’s squad, but look for them next year if everyone stays healthy.

The women had a pleasant surprise with a 20th place finish. It was the Cyclones’ first Top-20 finish in five years and the team is still young.

And of course who could forget the efforts of the tailback from Miami.

Troy Davis lit up the football field all year long and gave Cyclone fans something to brag about to all of the naysayers and Hawkeye fans. Even though the team finished below .500, they won three more games than all of last year, despite the nation’s worst rushing defense.

The first sophomore ever to rush for over 2,000 yards in a season is still being looked at as a Heisman candidate — unless of course you’re Lee Corso of ESPN, who would bow down and kiss Tommie Frazier’s feet before he’d even recognize a running back from Iowa State.

Despite Corso’s misgivings about the best college running back on not the best college football team, look for Davis to travel to New York City and represent Iowa State better than Governor Branstad would have ever dreamed.

With all the guff Cyclone fans have had to take from non-Cyclone fans for the past few years, it’s good to know that ISU athletics is becoming competitive.

While most of us were sitting in the comatose don’t-touch-my-belly-or-I’ll-explode-creamed-corn-and-pumpkin-pie mode watching the Vikings lose another game, a few Cyclone programs were out proving that fact.

Jason Howland is a senior in journalism from Riceville. He is sports editor of the Daily.