Iowa’s Lewis eyes faster times

IOWA CITY - That University of Iowa senior Kevin Lewis is now the fastest non-professional Iowa native ever to run the 5,000 meters indoors record may come as a surprise to many.

It is no surprise to him.

'I did think that I would get the school record for the 5K, but didn't expect to break it by that much,” Lewis said. 'But I'd rather it be that way. I'd rather be faster, than be slower than I thought.”

Lewis, an Ottumwa native, set the record time of 13 minutes, 43.7 seconds at the Iowa State Classic in Ames earlier this month, placing fourth in the event. His time far surpassed Iowa's school record, besting it by nearly 13 seconds. But, even so, he felt he could have performed better.

'The start of the race wasn't very good for me,” he said. 'I found myself in lane 2 and 3 for the first half of the race and had to work my way to the front. It wasn't the most efficient race in that sense. I could have started faster.”

Striving for success is nothing new for Lewis. Along with his record run in the 5,000, he has led the team in 8,000 and 10,000 meters and five miles. But it doesn't stop there. He proves it in the classroom, too. The former high school valedictorian has been named to the Academic All-Big Ten the past three years for his work toward an engineering major.

He has no plans to stop striving to prepare for his future - on or off the track.

'It's pretty cool,” he said of breaking the record. 'I am definitely not going to be satisfied with it, though. I want to move up in the national ranks, not just for Iowa's.

'I will be graduating next fall, but I will keep training at a hard level. ... I will keep training and hopefully I will be at the Olympic Trials for the 10K. I'm going to try to get faster year after year.

'For distance training I'm still pretty young. Most distance runners don't hit their peak until they're like 27 or 28, so I have a lot of time and a lot of running left ahead of me.”

Iowa is at the Big Ten Championships this weekend in Geneva, Ohio. The NCAA Indoor Championships are March 13-14 in Fayetteville, Ark.