University of Minnesota Athletics
Griak Hall of Fame Feature: Kiel Uhl
8/25/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Cross Country
The University of Minnesota will celebrate the 30th annual Roy Griak Invitational as part of Homecoming festivities on Saturday, Sept. 26 at Les Bolstad Golf Course in Falcon Heights, Minn.
As part of the celebration, Gopher Athletics has announced the formation of the Roy Griak Invitational Hall of Fame with eight inductees slated to be honored in the inaugural class. As the Griak Invitational approaches, GopherSports.com will highlight each of the honorees starting today with Des Moines Roosevelt High School/Iowa State University's Kiel Uhl.
Des Moines, Iowa is a short trip down I-35 from Minneapolis and home to Kiel Uhl. But the awards stand at the Roy Griak Invitational became sort of a home-away-from-home for Uhl.
Uhl stands out as the most-decorated runner in the history of the prestigious meet. The former Des Moines Roosevelt High School standout found himself on the awards stand three times during his illustrious prep career and all four years while running for Iowa State. His seven appearances on the awards stand is a record that will likely go unmatched.
"What an honor," said Uhl when learning of his selection into the 2015 class of the Roy Griak Invitational Hall of Fame. "The meet was always more than a cross country meet for me. My wife and family both have fond memories of the meet and make a reunion every year by going back and celebrating the meet."
"Anyone who knows cross country knows of the Griak," he added. "The organizers have always checked all the boxes and have created a very prestigious meet."
Uhl finished 10th at the Griak as a high school sophomore in 2002 and was among five Roosevelt runners to appear on the awards stand as Roosevelt also captured the team title that season. The victors were led by Austin Williamson's fourth-place finish as he covered the Les Bolstad course in a time of 15:49.6. Teammate Jon Thomas (16:08.3) placed eighth to also finish ahead of Uhl, who clocked in 16:12.4 in his first appearance on the course.
Yawusa Kinda (16:13.7) placed 11th and Jim Schwartz (16:91.6) ran his way to a 15th-place finish as Roosevelt won the championship with 43 points and easily out-distanced runner-up Hopkins (Minn.), which scored 104 points on the day. It was Roosevelt's first appearance at the Griak Invitational since placing fourth in 1998.
Uhl slipped to a 12th-place finish the following year as Roosevelt became just the second team to win consecutive titles in the high school boys division. White Bear Lake (Minn.) was the first school to claim back-to-back titles when the school won in 1996 and 1997. Just like the previous season, Roosevelt was paced by the same two runners who finished ahead of Uhl one year earlier. Thomas (15:57.3) and Williamson (16:04.7) placed fifth and seventh, respectively, at the 2003 meet, while Uhl clocked in 16:15.6.
That trio helped Roosevelt to 81 points on the day. Fargo (N.D.) South High School placed second with 115 points, while Marshall (138) and Wayzata (190), a pair of Minnesota schools, placed third and fourth, respectively, in the final team standings. Shawnee Mission Northwest (Kan.), rounded out the top-five schools in 2003 after scoring 206 points on the day.
Uhl emerged as Griak champion in his final appearance on the course as a high schooler. He captured the 2004 individual championship after finishing in 15:31.3. It was the second-fastest winning time in the history of the high school portion of the meet. Former Duluth East High School standout Nic Mattack, who won a pair of Griak titles while competing for the Greyhounds, ran a 15:12 to capture the crown for the second time in 1996.
Thomas joined Uhl on the award stand for a third-straight season as he placed 12th in a time of 16:11.6, but Roosevelt could only muster 258 points for a sixth-place finish and found itself well behind team champion Liberty (Mo.) High School, which claimed the team championship with 100 points.
Uhl closed out his high school cross country career just weeks later by capturing the state title in Iowa. He placed sixth as a sophomore and was the runner-up at the state meet before winning it all in 2004.
There was little doubt that with all the success achieved by Uhl while competing for Roosevelt that he would become a hot commodity among college recruiters. He entertained offers from Kansas State and Minnesota before deciding to remain close to home and compete for Iowa State.
"I was always impressed with Corey Ihmels," said Uhl of his decision to don the Cyclone uniform. Ihmels had taken over the ISU program following the retirement of longtime coach Bill Bergan and continued the success of the Cyclone program as one of the top running programs in the region.
Uhl continued his ownership of the Griak awards stand in his first season at ISU by placing 15th. He ran a time of 24:41.7 and was the lone ISU runner to find himself on the awards stand that day as the Cyclones finished 16th in the team standings after tallying 363 points. BYU captured the 2005 Griak team title with 117 points. The 15th-place individual showing and the 16th-place team finish were the lowest for any team Uhl competed on while running at the Griak Invitational.
He improved on his finish the following year by running a 24:35.2 and placing seventh overall. But, he once again found himself as the lone Cyclone on the awards stand as ISU could only muster 221 points to place fifth as a team at the 2006 edition of the popular meet.
Uhl turned in his best performance in 2007 as he finished fourth in the individual race after clocking in at 24:32.3 and finishing just over 28 seconds behind Northern Arizona's Lopez Lomong, who won the championship in a time of 24:04.2. But, unlike his previous two collegiate seasons, he had familiar company on the awards stand. Teammates Hillary Bor (24:50.2) and Kevin Born (24:53.6) placed 12th and 17th, respectively, to help the Cyclones to a third-place team finish. Northern Arizona won the team title that season with 83 points, and Arizona State finished right behind with 88 points as both schools finished ahead of the Cyclones, who tallied 99 points on the day.
Bor and Uhl helped ISU to a second-place team finish in what would be the final appearance at the Griak Invitational for the former Roosevelt standout. Bor paced the Cyclones by placing eighth in a time of 24:21.9 and Uhl finished 10th after being clocked in 24:21.9 at the 2008 meet, while two other Cyclones, Guor Majak (24:29.3) and Rico Loy (24:53.0) placed 12th and 19th, respectively, as ISU finished in second place with 89 points, just 14 points behind team champion Adams State, which scored 75 points to claim the 2008 championship.
Uhl, who graduated in 2009 from Iowa State with a degree in architecture, is married to the former Lisa Koll, who also competed at Iowa State and had tremendous success of her own at the Griak Invitational. Koll placed seventh at the Griak as a freshman in 2006 after running a 21:38.5 and found herself on the awards stand two other times in her career. She placed second in 2007 after finishing in 21:09.0 and matched that performance in her final season in 2009 with a time of 21:12.7.