Twenty Years on the Harry Hoak Track

AMES, Iowa - As we embark on this Big 12 Championship weekend, let us take a second to pay homage to one of the fastest indoor tracks in the country, the Harry Hoak Track. Every year the Cyclones' home track produces close to 20 percent of the qualifying times for the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. This May will mark the 20^th anniversary of track's conception. After two decades of competition, we take a moment to look back at some of the greatest moments in Harry Hoak Track history.

5. The Arizona State 4x400-meter relay team sets collegiate record
ASU 4x400-meter relay team
2004 NCAA Last Chance Qualifier
March 6, 2004

The Arizona State men's 4x400-meter relay team of Jason Barton, Steve Fitch, Seth Amoo and Domenik Peterson clocked a 3:03.43 en route to their first-place finish at the 2004 NCAA Last Chance Qualifier. The mark set the Arizona State and collegiate record in the 4x400-meter relay. The mark also stood as the fastest time in the world and was only the second mark all season to break the 3:04 barrier (LSU finished second to ASU in the same race at 3:03.97). The anchor of the relay, Peterson, also recorded another school record as he blazed to a 20.84 in the 200m dash, bettering the 21.01 set by Amoo earlier that year.

4. Goucher sets Big 12 Championship bests in the 3k and 5k
Adam Goucher, Colorado
1998 Big 12 Indoor Championships
Feb. 28, 1998

After an NCAA indoor championship in the 3,000-meter run in 1997, all eyes were fixed on Colorado's Adam Goucher at the 1998 Big 12 Indoor Track and Field Championships. Goucher would end up running the fastest 3,000-meter and 5,000-meter races in Big 12 Championship history; clocking an incredible 7:55.57 in the 3,000-meters and a 13:38.23 in the 5,000-meters. Goucher's 5,000-meter time still stands today as a Harry Hoak Track record. Goucher went on to win the NCAA Championship in the 3,000-meters for the second time.

3. Walter Dix shatters 200-meter track record
Walter Dix, Florida State
2006 NCAA Qualifier
March 4, 2006

Florida State sophomore Walter Dix ran the second fastest 200-meter race in the world (20.50) at the 2006 NCAA Last Chance Qualifier. The reigning NCAA 100-meter national champion ran a time just .13 seconds behind his junior indoor 200-meter world record time of 20.37 that he recorded at the 2005 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.

Dix shattered the Lied Recreation Athletic Center facility record of 20.69, run by Chris Nelloms in 1992 and the meet record of 30.84, set in 2004 by Domenik Peterson. Since Nelloms' facility record in 1992, no one had come close to the mark in nearly 14 years. Dix's 200-meter time was the fastest in the nation by .14 seconds at the time.

2. Just another day on the track for seven-time All-American Lisa Koll
Lisa Koll, Iowa State
2010 ISU Classic
Feb. 13, 2010

Seven-time All-American Lisa Koll returned to the indoor track after an injury plagued 2009 and became the second fastest American collegiate runner in the 5,000-meters on any track with a time of 15 minutes 29.65 seconds. Koll bettered her previous Iowa State and Harry Hoak track record by 22.62 seconds, and is the only Cyclone to hold multiple track records on the home track.

1. Harris sets the Harry Hoak track on fire
Danny Harris, Nike International
1991 ISU Classic
February 9, 1991

The year was 1991, and Iowa State University had just built a state-of-the-art Olympic-sized track in the Lied Recreation Center. The athletics department had heavily promoted the inaugural ISU Classic, but no one could have predicted the attendance that day.

Two weeks after the 1991 Melrose Games, Danny Harris received a phone call; it was then Iowa State head coach Steve Lynn. Lynn asked Harris to come back to Iowa State to take a shot at the world record in the 600-yard run. Harris agreed.

More than 3,000 fans packed around the Harry Hoak track Feb. 9, 1991; the atmosphere was electric. The infield was cleared for standing room only; the stadium seating was full and fans leaned over the upstairs track to catch a glimpse of the action. Harris recounts the excitement that he felt as he walked out for warm ups thinking, "How fast can a person go?"

While there were several exciting events throughout the day, the men's 600-yard race was what everyone came to see. The field was stellar: Iowa State's three-time All-American Frankie Atwater, Jamaica's gold medalist in the 400-meters at the 1991 World Indoor Championships Devon Morris and Iowa's All-American Patrick McGhee, just to name a few.

As the athletes took to their blocks, a deathly silence spread over the crowd. All other events halted while the 600-yard runners came to the start line. After the gun sounded the place erupted. The runners went out in blistering speed. The adrenaline was pumping as Harris took the sprinters through the 400 mark in 45.5 seconds; an incredible pace. As he turned the final corner, the only one within shouting distance of Harris was Iowa State's Atwater.

As Harris crossed the finish line, Harris was the only man standing, as he emerged victorious. Harris missed the world record by .17 seconds, clocking a 1:07.03. His time in the 600-yard run still stands today, as one of the oldest records on the Harry Hoak Track. After the race, Harris threw his shoes into the crowd, and is remembered as part of one of the greatest moments in Iowa State athletics history.