ISU Men Prepared for Big 12 Meet

AMES, Iowa--Led by sophomore Kiel Uhl (Prole, Iowa), the Iowa State men's cross country team heads into the Big 12 Cross Country Championships with high expectations. The 8,000-meter race will start Friday at 11 a.m. at the Rim Rock Farm in Lawrence, Kan.

The Cyclones have made great strides of improvement from the 2005 season and look to continue running strong into their most important competition of the season.

The men's team made its biggest statement this season at the Roy Griak Invitational with a fifth-place finish in a competition loaded with nationally ranked teams. It was this performance that earned the team a ranking of 21^st nationally. Now unranked, but still receiving votes, the Cyclones will look to earn back that respect.

Uhl has finished individually in the top 10 in all but one of his races this season and continues to be followed closely in each race by teammate Guor Majak. Men's head coach Corey Ihmels said he expects Uhl and Majak at the top of the pack at the Big 12 competition.

“It should be a battle and we are looking forward to having Kiel Uhl lead the way again this year as he did last year as a freshman when he placed seventh,” said Ihmels. “We are looking for a big performance from him, and then our second guy all year long has been Guor Majak and he has done a great job for us all year and we are expecting him to follow suit. And we really need someone to step up for us in that three, four, or five spot.”

The Colorado men have won all of the 10 previous Big 12 cross country titles. Iowa State finished sixth at last season's meet.