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141 D istance runners, especially those with All- America pedigrees, don't typically fall into a program's lap. But the University of Iowa was on the receiving end of a gem when senior Adam Jones, with one season of track and field eligibility remaining, enrolled in May 2016. Jones spent four years at Samford University, where as a sophomore in 2014, he ran 3:44 in the 1,500-meters and advanced to the NCAA Championship semifinals in Eugene, Oregon. Jones finished 18th in 3:47.40 to earn honorable mention All-America. at was followed by a string of frustrating, pesky injuries, so Jones, who lives in Phoenix City, Alabama, attended high school in Columbus, Georgia, and went to college in Birmingham, Alabama, packed his bags for the Midwest. "It's exciting to be able to go to surrounding states and see things I have never seen before," Jones said. "I have never been in a place that had all these cornfields. For people that live in Iowa it might be repetitive, but I absolutely love it. I love being able to run on dirt roads and see cornfields and wind turbines because I have never seen them before." It might be a different part of the country, but Jones' early results on the track are consistent with his All-America résumé. On Jan. 7 at the Border Battle, he won the mile in 4:13.47. Two weeks later at the Larry Wieczorek Invitational, Jones stepped beyond his distance comfort zone and was runner- up to Florida State's Harry Mulenga in the 3K in 8:21.49. He was again runner-up at the Black and Gold Premier on Jan. 28, this time in the 800 run in 1:52.63. "I want to become the best runner I can be in every event group," Jones said. "I don't want to be that runner that is only good at one event. I want to be able to go up and down and be competitive in everything I do." Jones has PRs of 1:50.76 in the 800, 3:44 in the 1,500, and 4:08 in the mile. He was the Southern Conference champion as a sophomore in the indoor mile and anchored the Bulldogs' distance medley relay to first place. Iowa distance coach Randy Hasenbank is Jones' seventh coach since high school. He knew of Jones when he was head coach at Loyola University (Chicago). "We were always preparing 800-meter guys and milers, so (Jones') name came up on the list of people you would have to get through to get to the national meet as a top competitor," Hasenbank said. Instead of finding ways to defeat Jones, Hasenbank is now making him faster. "When I stepped on campus, we had a pretty nice athlete to work with," Hasenbank said. And one with decent range. At the NCAA Regional Preview cross country meet on Oct. 1, Jones ran unattached and won the 8-kilometer race by 14 seconds over Iowa's Daniel Soto. "He is very, very fit and he beat our entire roster that day in the home cross country meet," Hasenbank said. "at bodes well and speaks to his ability and fitness." Jones notices differences and similarities between life at Samford and Iowa. Samford is a private university with nearly 5,500 students and Iowa is a public university with 33,000 students. But the people of Alabama and Iowa are comparable. "It's a good eye-opener with a different type of campus and people," Jones said. "A lot of people in the Midwest are genuinely nice and people- friendly, similar to people in the South."