Drake Relays: How an Iowa State runner went from club team to track star

AMES, Ia. — Martin Smith, the director of Iowa State’s men and women’s track and cross-country teams, was walking into the Lied Recreational Athletic Center with assistant coach Jeremy Sudbury for practice one day when an unfamiliar runner went sprinting by them. As the speedster raced by, Martin and Sudbury both wondered the same thing:

Who is this guy?  

“Coach and I kind of looked at each other and we were like, 'this guy looks pretty good,'" Sunbury said. “He was very raw. You could tell that he was still kind of a young runner. But when you see a guy go flying by you who is not running slow — and he looked really smooth doing it — our reaction was definitely one that was like, ‘Oh my goodness.’”

That’s how the Cyclones discovered Roshon Roomes who would go on to become one of the stars of Iowa State’s track team. Roomes, a redshirt junior, will run for the Cyclones during this week’s Drake Relays, competing in the three of Iowa State’s relay teams.

"I honestly never expected any of this to happen," Roomes said.

Who did? Roomes literally came out of nowhere to walk on the Iowa State men’s track team and rise to stardom. And it all began when the Minnesota native first enrolled at Iowa State during the 2015-16 school year. Roomes, who had run track in high school, didn’t get any scholarship offers, but liked Iowa State because of its civil engineering program. He also hoped he could walk on the track team.  

But that plan didn’t work out. Iowa State’s coaches weren’t impressed with the times Roomes had put together in high school. The ones he had emailed them fell short of their bench marks for walks-on. So, Roomes went on with his life, working out and running on his own. During a run one day, he caught the attention of some of some members of Iowa State’s running club. They convinced him to join the team.

“That spring semester when I was on the run club, even after run club nationals, I was kind of thinking, you know what, I think this is it — I don’t know if I’m going to get on the team anymore,” Roomes said. “So, I just figured I’m probably going to be on the run club for next year as well and that’s probably my path for this school.”

It wasn’t. During a workout before one of Iowa State’s practices that spring, Roomes impressed Martin and Sudbury with his run. After Roomes flew by the two coaches, they stopped him, sat down with him and learned his story. Roomes told them about how he had emailed the staff but they didn't like his times. Martin and Sudbury thought he had potential. 

“When we saw him, we had no idea he was even on campus, to be honest with you, and then I don’t know if we would have ever noticed him either just based on — on paper, out of high school, his marks didn’t merit a guy who looked like that,” Sudbury said. “That was definitely something that was a shock and very exciting to fall into.”

It worked out well for everyone.

Roomes joined the team as a walk-on. During the 2016-17 indoor season, Roomes finished fourth as part of the 4x400 relay and eighth in the 600-yard run at the Big 12 Indoor Championships. In the outdoor season, he picked up a bronze medal in the 800-meter at the Big 12 Outdoor Championships.

That was just the start of things: The following season, he earned Second-Team All-America honors as a member of the 14th-place 4x400 meter relay team at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. Roomes was also a member of the winning 4x800 and sprint medley relay teams at the Drake Relays.

PREVIOUSLY: 

• Drake Relays 2019 qualifiers 
• Storylines to follow at this week's Drake Relays
• Southeast Polk ready for Drake Relays

“Did I think he could do what he has done already up to this point in his career? I’d be lying if I said, 'Yeah, we saw that coming,'” Sudbury said. “It’s kind of just happened.”

It has all happened because of Roomes' work ethic. During his first semester on the track team, he put on 15 pounds of muscle. Roomes also saw big drop offs in his times thanks to his work in the weight room. All that hard work is paying off on and off the track as well: Not only is Roomes a star, but he’s now on scholarship.

Who saw that coming?

“I had no idea this was going to happen,” Roomes said.