Koll and Varner Iowa State Athletes of the Year

AMES, Iowa ? Two-time NCAA champion wrestler Jake Varner and four-time NCAA champion distance runner Lisa Koll have been named Iowa State's Athletes of the Year for the 2009-2010 academic year. Both are earning the honor for the second time. Varner previously won male athlete-of-the-year honors in 2009. Koll won female athlete-of-the-year recognition in 2008.

Varner, a two-time NCAA champion at 197 pounds, capped one of the most successful seasons and careers in Iowa State history with 31-0 season. The Cyclone standout was additionally a Midlands Championships and Big 12 Championship titlist in 2010. The Bakersfield, Calif., native finished his career with 121-10 record, for a .923 career-winning percentage that ranks among the top five marks in program history.

Varner scored his second-straight NCAA crown with a 5-2 victory over No. 2-seeded Craig Brester of Nebraska in the tournament finals. Varner also turned away Brester to take his first national crown at the 2009 NCAA meet. Varner was the 13th four-time finalist in NCAA history, and the second Cyclone to accomplish the feat (Cael Sanderson, 1998-2002).

Varner stuck 10 opponents in his final Cyclone campaign. At the NCAA Championships, the two-time Big 12 champion won his first two matches of the tournament for bonus points with a 17-3 major decision of Boise State's Matt Casperson and a 10-1 major decision over Riley Orozco of Cal-State Bakersfield. Varner advanced through the 197-pound quarterfinals and semifinals with shutout performances against Sonny Yohn (4-0) and Cam Simaz (6-0) before beating Brester in the NCAA final.

Koll, who won three NCAA titles in 2010 and four in her career, set the all-time collegiate record in the 10,000-meter run on March 26 in Palo Alto, Calif., crossing the finish line in 31:18.07. The clocking made her the sixth-fastest American ever at that distance. The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) named Koll the 2010 National Female Track Athlete of the Year for Outdoor Track & Field in Division I as voted by the nation's coaches. Koll also was honored with the Honda Award as the top female collegiate track and field performer nationally in 2010. She was one of three finalists for the Honda Broderick Award, recognizing the top female athlete in any collegiate sport.

In all, Koll was an 11-time All-American, a nine-time Big 12 Conference champion and a three-time league record-holder. She is the only competitor to win a Big 12 track event four times, the 10,000 meters. She was voted the 2010 Most Outstanding Performer of the league indoor and outdoor championships, winning the 3,000-meter run and the 5,000-meter runs indoors and the 10,000-meter and 5,000-meter runs outdoors.

Koll completed her sterling collegiate career by winning the 10,000-meters and the 5,000-meters at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Eugene, Ore. on June 9 and 11, respectively. Koll became only the fourth female in NCAA history to notch the 5k-10k double. Koll had also won the 5,000-meter run and was second in the 3,000-meter run at the NCAA indoor meet. She was also an All-American in cross country last fall.