Koll Defends Big 12 Title

BOULDER, Colo. - Iowa State's Lisa Koll embellished her credentials as a top contender for a NCAA title in the 10,000-meters on Friday at the Big 12 Championships on the Potts Field track in Boulder, Colo. The Fort Dodge native defended her 10,000-meter Big 12 Championship, with a time of 35:59.28. At the end of day one, the Cyclone women sit in fourth place with 16 points. ISU's men tallied three points with Kiel Uhl's sixth-place 10,000-meter finish and are tied for fifth. Events continue Saturday and Sunday.

“In this type of race, the first 7k was a tempo run," Koll said. "If the field would have come out faster it may have affected me. I didn't really feel any hindrance from the altitude. At the conference meet it is all about place and not necessarily about time.”

A week after graduating summa cum laude from ISU in just three years in biology, Koll became only the second back-to-back 10,000-meter champion in Big 12 history. With six laps to go, Koll made her move to the front of the pack and ran away with the race. Fellow Cyclone Grace Kemmey moved after the 5,000-meter mark to catapult herself to a third-place finish with a time of 36:33.34. Koll's victory added 10 points to ISU's team score and Kemmey earned six.

Iowa State head coach Corey Ihmels was proud of both his runners.

“It was a very exciting race," Ihmels said. "The first four and a half miles was really slow but we stayed patient and took off with a little over a mile to go. When Lisa pulled away it enabled Grace (Kemmey) to move into third. It was a tremendous race from both Lisa and Grace. Both athletes are a good testament to where the distance program is going.”

Koll has amassed one of the best seasons in Iowa State track and field history, setting the American Collegiate Record in the 10,000-meters in early April, earning All-America honors in cross country, the indoor 3,000 and 5,000-meters and capturing conference titles in the indoor 5k and the outdoor 10k. Along the way she snapped school records in the 3,000, 5,000 and 10,000-meters. The sophomore now looks toward the 10k gold at the NCAA Championships in Des Moines in mid-June and improving on her Olympic B standard-qualifying time of 32:11.13.

“It is nice to win. You always want to come back and defend your title,” Koll said. “I was happy that I was that comfortable throughout the entire race and was able to save some energy for the 5k on Sunday.”

Uhl, a sophomore, raced next in the men's 10,000-meters, and provided a strong effort. The Des Moines-Roosevelt High School alum battled the altitude with a sixth-place finish for a 30:47.09 time. The home track advantage proved valuable for Colorado, as the Buffs claimed the top five places of the event.

Earlier in the day, Cyclone Robbie Utterback shattered his career-best toss in the hammer throw. The Clive, Iowa native threw a 175-00 in the hammer, surpassing former career-best mark of 165-00. Amy Waggoner equaled her career best throw in the hammer of 157-07. Neither scored team points in the stacked field.

“Tomorrow we have a chance to get a lot more people on the track,” Ihmels said. “We are excited. I think there may be a lot of surprises tomorrow because of the altitude. We have a lot of things going on tomorrow, and I am excited to see where we are.”

Results

Women

Team Scoring: 1. Texas A&M 24; 2. Kansas State 20; 3. Nebraska 18; 4. Iowa State 16; 5. Missouri 12; 6. Texas Tech 10; 7. Kansas/Oklahoma State 6; 9. Oklahoma 3; 10. Baylor 2; 11. Colorado/Texas 0

1, Lisa Koll, Iowa State, 35:59.28, 3, Grace Kemmey, Iowa State, 36:33.34

Men

Team Scoring: 1. Colorado 33; 2. Missouri 20; 3. Kansas 11; 4. Nebraska 7; 5. Iowa State/Texas 3; 7. Oklahoma 1; 8. Baylor/Kansas State/Oklahoma State/Texas A&M/Texas Tech 0

1, Kenyon Neuman, Colorado, 30:40.78, 6, Kiel Uhl, Iowa State, 30:47.09

Players Mentioned

Lisa Koll

Lisa Koll

Kiel Uhl

Kiel Uhl

Amy Waggoner

Amy Waggoner

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics