Former Comet standout Kiki Connell runs final XC race with Cyclones

To The Press

Kiki Connell is not done, yet.

We have to mention, though, that her well-traveled collegiate cross country career has reached the end of its course. But even getting to that point was beating the odds.

The former Charles City standout had to overcome a pair of broken bones sustained during the offseason to make the roster for her senior cross country season with Iowa State University’s women’s team.

Connell was activated just in time for the Big 12 Championships before being included in the Cyclones’ lineup for the NCAA Midwest Regional.

Improving 16 seconds from her 6K time at the Big 12 Championships, Connell placed 67th at the Midwest Regional.

“I’m literally being held together by tape and everything hurts,” Connell said after the final XC race of her career.

Iowa State junior Maelle Porcher qualified for the 2024 NCAA Championships and the Iowa State women picked up two Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series points at the 2024 NCAA Midwest Regional cross country meet held last Friday (Nov. 15) at Bradley University in Peoria, Ill.

“I was very pleased to see our women have their best race of the year at the Midwest Regional!” said ISU director of track & field/cross country Jeremy Sudbury. “This group had a lot of heart and grit and although the season has not gone the way they would have wanted it to, their resilience and effort was on full display today.”

The Cyclones finished fourth as a team, led by Porcher’s podium finish, to best their in-state foe as the Hawkeyes finished 17th. Porcher started the race strong, running with the front pack early and was tied for sixth through the first 2K mark. She improved to fifth at the 3K mark and jumped again to fourth at the 4K and 5K marks. The junior made her final push into third ahead of the finish and earned the second individual automatic qualifying spot with her time of 19:52.8.

Porcher will run at her third straight NCAA Championships, after qualifying as an individual for CBU in 2022 before running as part of Iowa State’s qualifying team last season. It will mark the 16th consecutive season that the Cyclone women will have a representative running at the national championship meet.

Coach Sudbury was elated that Porcher will have the chance to compete next weekend after a great race Friday morning, saying “Maelle was brilliant in her individual race and I couldn’t be more excited for her to get to race next week at NCAAs!”

Redshirt-juniors Riley Beach and Bella Heikes also finished in the top 25 to help the Iowa State effort and earned All-Midwest Region honors along with Porcher. Beach was 18th in 20:20.75 while Heikes finished 21st less than a few seconds later in 20:22.50. The young Cyclones gained great experience at the regional meet as well, as freshmen Ruby Hughes (42nd, 20:47.53) and sophomore Sheridan Wheeler (55th, 20:57.67) rounded out ISU’s top five.

Connell started her collegiate cross country career at the University of Northern Iowa and made All-Missouri Valley Conference her lone season with the Panthers.

After transferring to ISU, Connell nearly made All-Big 12 after placing 16th at the 2022 conference meet.

As a student-athlete pursuing a career in physical therapy, Connell has maintained a 4.0 grade-point-average while attaining the distinction of Division I athlete in two separate sports as she is also a consistent point-placement scorer for the Cyclone women’s track and field team.

At the 2022 Big 12 Track and Field Championships, Connell took fifth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and 15th in the 5,000-meter run.

Connell has been named been on the Big 12 Commissioners Honor Roll four times with the Cyclones; has been All-Big 12 Academic First Team in XC (2023), and T&F (2023, 2024); has been United States Track and Field Coaches Association All-American in T&F (2023); and had been named College Sports Communicators All-District and Second Team All-American in XC (2023).

Connell has her senior season left with the Cyclones women’s track and field team.

Connell’s athletic career at Charles City included being a four-time state-qualifier and multiple state-medalist in XC; a multiple state-medalist in T&F that included a second-place showing in the 3,000, a third-place showing in the 1,500, and a fourth-place showing in the 800 her senior season; and a state girls wrestling championship at 120-pounds.