ISU Track and Field: 2015 Men’s Preview

Only two days remain until the Iowa State track and field teams open the 2015 season at the Holiday Inn Invitational. We previewed the women’s team on Monday, so here’s a look at what’s ahead for the ISU men.

The Cyclone men return three NCAA qualifiers in three-time All-American Edward Kemboi (800m), second-team All-American Cameron Ostrowski (high jump) and two-time national qualifier Jan Jeuschede (shot put). The trio earned the men’s team national recognition, lifting the Cyclones to No. 19 in the USTFCCCA preseason poll.

Key Departures
Mohamed Hrezi: Distance (XC All-American, 5x top-8 finisher at Big 12 meets)
Ryan Sander: Hurdles (Big 12 Indoor runner-up, 60H)

Throws/Jumps
Jeuschede and Ostrowski are set to lead the field-event crew again this year, both ranking in the top-four in program history in their respective events (indoor and outdoor). Jeuschede holds a career-best throw in the shot put of 61 feet, 6.25 inches (18.75m), hurling the mark at last year’s NCAA Outdoor Championships. Jeuschede became just the fourth individual in Cyclone history to break 61 feet in the event, scoring the farthest throw by an ISU student-athlete since 1999.

Ostrowski lept to second-team All-America honors last season at the NCAA indoor meet and took home the Big 12 title in the high jump in 2014. The Burlington, Illinois, native cleared a height of 7’3.75” (2.23m) at the conference indoor meet, becoming just the second Cyclone ever to clear the mark and rank at No. 2 on the program’s all-time indoor list.

Henry Kelley (weight / hammer throw) and Taylor Sanderson (multis) also return to the lineup in 2015. Kelley came on strong in the outdoor season, throwing the hammer a personal-best 185’07” (56.56m) at the Tiger Classic to rank at No. 6 on the all-time list. The Waukee, Iowa, product also ranks at No. 8 on the indoor list (weight throw) at 59’0.25” (17.98m).

Sanderson became just the sixth multi-event athlete in program history to break the 5,000-point barrier in the heptathlon last season, posting a career mark of 5,245 in the Lied Recreation Athletic Center at the Bill Bergan Invitational. Sanderson also placed sixth in the decathlon at last year’s outdoor Big 12 meet, scoring 6,925 points.

New to the field-event roster this season will be Jalen Ford (Fr., high jump), Ben Krynski (RFr., weight/hammerthrow) and Tyler Hunke (Fr., multis).

Sprints/Hurdles
Sophomore hurdler Derek Jones will lead the ISU hurdle squad this season, coming off a freshman campaign that saw him rise to No. 8 on the program’s all-time 400-meter hurdles list with a third-place, 51.02-second performance at the Big 12 Outdoor Championship. Jones was one of two Cyclones to score points in the event at the outdoor meet, also joined on the Big 12 podium by Kris Brander, who placed seventh. Trey Achterhoff also returns in the 400H crew.

Jared Ingram, Mark Sitek and Jacob Hoogensen return to the sprint squad, joined by freshmen Elijah Young and Logan Schneider.

Distance
Kemboi headlines the men’s distance crew, coming off an indoor runner-up performance at the NCAA Indoor meet a year ago. The Eldoret, Kenya, native clocked as fast as 1:45.98 indoors last season. Kemboi posted a pair of sub-1:47 performances in 2014 and is a four-time Big 12 individual champion, becoming the first student-athlete in conference history to win both the 800m and 1,000m titles at the Big 12 indoor meet. Kemboi is the program 800m record-holder both indoors (1:45.98) and outdoors (1:46.06), also holding the top 1,000m mark indoors (2:21.89).

Coming off redshirt years, Patrick Peterson and Christian DeLago add depth in the middle distance events. Peterson holds an 800m PR of 1:48.10 and took the open title at the Kansas Relays last season while competing unattached. DeLago has also clocked sub-1:50 in the event, running 1:49.62 at the Portland Track Festival.

Martin Coolidge will have his eyes set on the Big 12 podium in the long-distance events. The Elyria, Ohio, native ranks at No. 6 on the program’s all-time 5K list indoors, posting a time of 14:01.73 at the Big 12 meet in 2012. Coolidge also ranks at No. 10 on the outdoor 10K list with a time of 29:08.87.

Social Media
Be sure to follow @CycloneTrackXC on facebook, twitter and instagram for notes, stats, pictures and general coverage of the Iowa State men’s and women’s track and field teams.