Thomas Pollard

Photo by: Athletics Communications

Position:
Distance
Weight:
null
Class:
Freshman
Hometown:
Ames, Iowa
High School:
Gilbert

Awards and Honors
All-American (XC: 2021)
Big 12 Cross Country Scholar-Athlete of the Year (2019, 2020, 2021)
2016 Big 12 Cross Country Men's Newcomer of the Year
All-Big 12 (XC - 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021)
USTFCCCA XC All-Midwest Region (2016, 2019, 2021)
CoSIDA Men's Track & Field/Cross Country Third Team Academic All-American (2020)
CoSIDA Men's Track & Field/Cross Country Academic All-District (2020, 2022)
USTFCCCA All-Academic (XC: 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021; T&F: 2017, 2020, 2021, 2022)
Academic All-Big 12 First Team (XC - 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021; T&F - 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022)
2016 USATF Men's Junior 10,000-Meter Run Champion
2016 USATF Men's Junior Cross Country Champion
2016 Pan American Cup Silver Medalist (Individual)
2016 Pan American Cup Gold Medal (Team USA)
Big 12 Commissioner's Honor Roll (Fall 2015, Spring 2016, Fall 2016, Spring 2017, Fall 2017, Spring 2018, Fall 2018, Spring 2019, Fall 2019, Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Spring 2021, Fall 2021, Spring 2022)

Personal Bests

1,500m	3:50.68	2016 Outdoor
Mile	4:05.29	2022 Indoor
3,000m	7:54.37	2022 Indoor
5,000m	13:40.20	2022 Outdoor
	13:38.82	2022 Indoor
10,000m	28:23.19	2022 Outdoor

2021-22
Outdoor: Ran in for meets for Iowa State … qualified for the NCAA West Preliminaries in the 10,000m run, finishing 15th (29:04.74) … earned Big 12 Championships bronze medal at 10,000 meters (29:28.11) … ran to personal best 28:23.19, sixth in Iowa State history, at 10,000m at the Stanford Invitational … posted outdoor best 13:40.20 in the 5,000m at the Bryan Clay Invitational.

Indoor: Took part in six meets for the Cyclones … earned Big 12 Championships bronze medal in 5,000m run (13:40.91) and finished eighth in the 3,000m run (8:02.13) … ran to personal best 13:38.82 in the 5,000m run at the Husky Classic … recorded personal best 7:54.37 at 3,000m at the Razorback Invitational … posted personal best in the mile at 4:05.29 during the Cyclone Open … also competed at the Graduate Classic and Wooo Pig Classic.

XC: Ran for Iowa State in all five meets, helping guide the Cyclones to a second place finish at the NCAA Cross Country Championships … earned first career All-America honors, finishing 21st at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in a 10K time of 29:20.4 … earned USTFCCCA All-Region for the third time in his career with 10th-place finish at NCAA XC Championships Midwest Regional … became the first male in Big 12 history to earn five All-Big 12 XC honors with seventh-place effort at the Big 12 Championship … opened his season with fifth-place finish at the Griak Invitational … took 20th at the Wisconsin Nuttycombe Invitational, helping the ISU men’s team secure the team title.

2020-21
Outdoor: Ran in seven meets for Iowa State … qualified for NCAA West Preliminaries in the 10,000-meter run, taking 19th place (29:47.23) … finished third with personal bests in both the 5,000m (13:46.02) and 10,000m (28:47.63) at the Big 12 Championships … was member of the fourth-place 4x1,600m relay at the Drake Relays … clocked a then-PR 28:59.91 in the 10K at the Virginia Challenge … posted a then-PR 13:55.27 in the 5K at the Hayward Premiere … also competed at the Jim Duncan Invitational and the Trials of Miles Kansas City Qualifier.

Indoor: Did not compete.

XC: Posted a 91st-place finish at the NCAA Championships... earned a top-10 finish at the OSU Witner Open with a 10th-place finish in 24:45.2... posted a 14th-place finish at the FSU Winter XC Classic... finished 11th at the Big 12 Championship (23:42.1), earning his fourth All-Big 12 finish … became ISU’s first men’s four-time All-Big 12 honoree alongside teammate Milo Greder … First Team Academic All-Big 12… earned a top-10 finish at the Cowboy Jamboree, posting a 10th-place finish in 25:29.6 (8k) … kicked off the year with a sixth-place finish at the Bob Timmons Classic, finishing with a 6k time of 18:33.2.

2019-20
Outdoor: Season canceled due to COVID-19 outbreak worldwide.

Indoor: Competed in four meets for Iowa State … claimed silver medal in 3,000m (8:14.85) and 5,000m (personal best 14:01.97) at the Big 12 Championships, helping the Cyclone men claim the team title … won 5,000m run at UW Invitational in then-PR 14:02.39 … clocked personal best in 3,000m run (8:11.03) en route to taking third at the Wieczorek Invite … notched PR in mile (4:11.75) at the Iowa State Classic.

XC: Helped Iowa State to a fourth-place showing at the NCAA Championship, the Cyclones’ best finish in the last 25 years, finishing 95th individually with a time of 31:56.5… Big 12 Cross Country Men’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year… earned First Team Academic All-Big 12 honors… finished 18th at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships in 31:19.5, earning All-Region recognition… helped Iowa State to its third-straight Big 12 Championship with a 15th-place showing at the Conference Championship in 24:09.5… one of seven Iowa State runners to finish on the Big 12 podium… finished 72nd at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational with a time of 24:27.0… began the year with a 20th-place outing at the John McNichols Invitational, running the race in 24:51.

2018-19
Outdoor: Scored in a pair of events for the Cyclones at the Big 12 Championships, finishing fifth in the 10,000-meter run (29:45.65) and eighth in the 5,000 meters (14:21.28) … finished seventh in the 5,000-meter run at the Cardinal Classic in 14:03.47.

Indoor: Scored a point for the Cyclones at the Big 12 Indoor Championships with eighth place finish in 5,000-meter run (14:49.06) … also ran the 3,000 meters at the conference championships, finishing ninth in 8:27.90 … competed in the mile at the Hawkeye Invitational (4:25.31) and Wieczorek Invite (4:19.31) … did the 3,000-meter run at the Razorback Invite (8:25.61) and the Iowa State Classic (8:15.67).

XC: Did not compete.

2017-18
Outdoor: Medical redshirt.

Indoor: Medical redshirt.

XC: Was a important contributor to Iowa State’s historic season in 2017 … one of five Cyclones to finish in the top-100 at the NCAA Championships, earning a 98th-place finish individually in a time of 30:41.38 … took 47th in 30:07 in Iowa State’s first-place finish at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships … earned All-Big 12 honors for the second straight season, taking fifth in a time of 24:14.5 at the Big 12 Championships … began the year with a sixth-place finish at the Hawkeye Invitational … earned Academic All-Big 12 recognition for his work in the classroom.

2016-17
Outdoor: Competed in four meets for the Cyclones … qualified for NCAA West Preliminaries in the 10,000-meter run, finishing 26th … picked up Big 12 silver medal in the 10,000 at the conference championships with a 29:30.77 … ran in the 5,000 at the Stanford Invite and the Cardinal Classic, running a personal best 14:02.48 in the latter.

Indoor: Did not compete due to injury.

XC: Completed one of the finest freshman campaigns in program history by earning Big 12 Newcomer of the Year honors … he was the first Cyclone to receive the award in the Big 12-era … made his collegiate debut at the Roy Griak Invitational, where he placed 18^th (25:34) to help lead the Cyclones to a runner-up team finish … was Iowa State’s No. 2 finisher at the Nuttycombe Wisconsin Invitational, placing 25^th (24:23) … had a breakout performance at the 2016 Big 12 Championship, placing fourth overall (25:40) … the fourth-place finish was Iowa State’s best individual placing at the Big 12 Championship since 1998 … Pollard led four Cyclones to earn All-Big 12 honors, the most in program history … finished 8^th (30:31) as ISU’s top finisher at the NCAA Midwest Regional to earn All-Region honors … helped Iowa State advance to the NCAA Championships for the first time since 2009 … finished 45^th overall (30:30.6) at the 2016 NCAA meet in Terre Haute, Ind. to lead the Cyclones to a 16^th-place finish.

Summer 2016
Represented Team USA in 10,000-meter run at IAAF U-20 World Championships, finishing in 16th place while running a PR 29:53.84 ... won the 10,000-meter run in 30:46.04 to qualify for the IAAF U-20 World Championships.

2015-16
Outdoor: Redshirted first season at Iowa State … competed unattached at the Drake Relays, qualifying for the USATF Junior National Championships in the 10,000-meter run with a time of 30:31.73.

Indoor: Redshirted first season at Iowa State … competed unattached at the Penn State Relays, finishing second in 8:26.16.

XC: Redshirted first season at Iowa State ... led Team USA to a gold medal in the junior men’s competition at the 2016 Panamerican Cross Country Cup … finished second in the individual competition 8,000-meter run with a time of 26:14.72 … qualified for the junior national team by winning the USATF Men’s Junior Cross Country Championship, finishing the 8K in 26:11.

High School
Chose Iowa State over offers from Oregon, Stanford, Wisconsin and Indiana, among others, following an historic high school career ... was named a three-time Gatorade Athlete of the Year in the state of Iowa, twice for cross country and once for track ... captured the 2014 3A individual state title, breaking the tape in just 15:04, helping Gilbert win its first-ever team state cross country title ... also notched runner-up finishes at the state XC meet in 2012 and 2013 ... earned All-America honors twice at the Foot Locker National High School Cross Country Finals, winning the 3,200-meter run at the Midwest Distance Classic and finishing third in the 1,500 at the Nike Festival of Miles ... on the track Pollard won three state titles, including a record-breaking time of 8:50.43 in the 3200 in 2014, the fastest time ever run by an Iowan and the third-fastest time in the nation during the outdoor season ... was a three-time Junior Olympic Champion.

Personal
Born on Apr. 17, 1997 ... son of Jamie and Ellen Pollard ... father, Jamie, is Director of Athletics at Iowa State ... currently enrolled in graduate school for Information Systems and Business Analytics ... earned Bachelor's Degree from Iowa State.