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24 Hawkeyes to Watch: Keaton Rickles By Darren Miller E very athlete dreams of ending their career a champion. Keaton Rickels considered doing that in 2011, but he was a sophomore then, with two years of eligibility remaining. It was the best of times in 2011 for the University of Iowa men's track and field program. The Hawkeyes won their first Big Ten Conference championship in 44 years, doing it in dramatic fashion on their home Cretzmeyer Track. It was a day of Gatorade showers, 'high-fives,' hugs, and tears of joy. At the same time, 2011 was the worst of times for Rickels. The walk-on was not one of eight qualifiers to the conference 400-meter hurdle final. His preliminary time of 53.59 was more than a half-second slower than his season-best 53.0. Not only would a season-best have put Rickels seventh in the finals of the Big Ten meet, it also would have put him in the discussion to finally receive scholarship money. "All that work with no return, it took a lot out of me," Rickels said. "I didn't think I could come back and do that grind one more time and feel the same amount of hurt." UI teammate Jordan Mullen, who edged Rickels by 0.16 seconds to win an Iowa high school 400 hurdle championship in 2009, convinced him to keep plugging away. So did the Hawkeye coaches. Rickels remained committed to track, but he continued to be haunted by little things that can lead to or restrict a stellar performance. "In this sport, 1/10 of a second can make or break your entire week," Rickels said. Mullen came to the rescue with a second tip: relax. "I found myself before meets worrying about this, worrying about that, getting everything ready," Rickels said. "Jordan asked, 'What are you stressed out about? You're supposed to have fun, this is a sport, we do it because we love it.'" 51 Rickels then stole a page from the pony-tailed Mullen, and donned what has become his trademark: wearing a headband or bandana during competition. "I stopped looking in the mirror and put on a headband," Rickels said. "I look ridiculous when I run -- that's part of it, I don't care anymore. It's one less stress in my stressful life to worry about. I will put on my short shorts and my headband, and I'll feel comfortable. I won't have hair in my eyes, and I will just go. It is a big relief; it doesn't matter what I look like, it's all about running." As a junior, a stress-free Rickels became a successful Rickels. He ran the second leg on the Hawkeyes' distance medley relay that placed third in the Big Ten Indoor Championships; he was fourth in the 600-meter run, and ran the third leg on the sixth-place 4x400 relay team at the same meet. "Scoring at Big Ten indoor last year was the best feeling in the world," Rickels said. "I felt like I was finally contributing to this team. My coaches told me I was always part of this team -- a hard-worker in practice, pushing others, being a good leader -- (but) to finally get those points on paper, and to have something you could hold on to, was a big changing moment for me." He didn't stop there. During the 2012 outdoor season, Rickels placed seventh in the 400-meter hurdles at the Big Ten Championships and qualified for the NCAA Preliminary Round in Austin, Texas. His journey began in a small community in central Iowa. Rickels was a three-sport standout at Iowa FallsAlden High School, where as a senior in wrestling, he placed seventh in the 160-pound weight class at the Class 2A state tournament. In Class 3A track, he was runner-up in the 400-meter hurdles and 800 run, and seventh in the 400. The support Rickels received growing up in Iowa Falls impacted his life. So much that he one-day sees himself returning to settle down there to raise a family. But