Uhl Ready For Final Home Cross Country Run

AMES, Iowa -- Ask Iowa State senior cross country standout Kiel Uhl what kind of weather he is hoping for on Nov. 1 in Ames when his Iowa State team toes the start box for the Big 12 Cross Country Championship on the ISU Cross Country Course. His ideal weather is probably not your first choice for conditions as a spectator.

“Three inches of rain the night before and a temperature around 35 degrees,” Uhl said.

Asked if he was serious and if such a rain would give him some problems, he retorts quickly.

“It might give others a problem, but not me,” Uhl laughs.

The women's 6,000-meter race will start at 10 a.m. and the men's 8,000-meter race will start at 11 a.m. Admission is free.

For Uhl, the conference meet will be his last competitive collegiate cross country run in Iowa. He feels fortunate to have that opportunity.

“It's going to be exciting,' Uhl said. “It is a special place to run and be successful.”

It may be exciting but it won't be easy.

“Courses are all a little different,” Uhl said. “It depends what you like. (The Iowa State Cross Country Course) is a bumpy course and it is hilly. The ups and downs can break an efficient runner, disturbing their stride. Overall, it is one course that fulfills the true cross country runner.”

Iowa State head coach Corey Ihmels, a former ISU All-American who ran the course in collegiate competition, concurs with Uhl's analysis.

“It's a fair and honest course but it can be deceiving,” Ihmels said. “When you stand at the start line and look across the way, it doesn't look too bad. But after you run down through the arboretum once and then have to go back again in both (the men's 8,000-meter course and the women's 6,000 course) races, it separates who is ready from who is not ready.”

Uhl, a three-time NCAA Championship qualifier, should know. The senior, who prepped at Des Moines Roosevelt, has been a mainstay of the Iowa State cross country program under Ihmels. As a freshman, he was seventh at the Big 12 meet and second at the Midwest Regional, qualifying for his first NCAA Championship. He then went on to win the USA Junior National Cross Country Championship in Boston before leading the U.S. team at the world junior meet in Tokyo.

He finished seventh again at the conference meet as a sophomore and his Midwest Regional fourth-place performance pushed him into the NCAA Championship for the second straight year.

Last season, Uhl raced to his goal of leading the Cyclones to their first NCAA Championship team berth in a decade. He was third out of 155 runners at the Midwest Regional as Iowa State advanced as a team to the national meet. ISU had placed fourth at the 2007 Big 12 meet.

“This is Kiel's last Big 12 Championship,” Ihmels said. “He is ready to run and poised to perform at the highest level.”

As the cross country season ascends steadily to a climax next month, Uhl has his mind on team achievement.

“We've done a pretty good job working together during races and running two groups within our team, more than in past years because we have the talent,” Uhl said. “There are a lot of demands on your time right now and guys are working to balance school and cross country.”

Make no doubt; the two-time academic all-Big 12 architecture major has high goals for his team and himself.”

“If we are on at the Big 12 meet, we can run with any team in the conference,” Uhl said. “Cross country is unpredictable. Sometimes the person you think is going to win a race is not the person who finishes first.”