University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) men’s cross country junior Tyler Hiserote has been selected as the Male Spotlight Athlete for the month of December.
Tyler Hiserote captured 33rd in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Championships with an 8K time of 26 minutes, 10.05 seconds on Nov. 3 in Louisville, Ky. His time is the fifth-fastest 8K time by a UIS junior.
Hiserote claimed 90th in the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships on Nov. 17 in Hillsdale, Mich. His 10K time of 34:00.8 is the tenth-fastest in school history.
Hiserote holds the fastest 8K time in UIS history by a junior after clocking a time of 25:55.7 in the Greater Louisville Classic. The junior from Bartonville posted 8K times of 26:30.9 in the Festival Year Fiasco and 26:41.0 in the Gil Dodds Invitational, which rank ninth and tenth, respectively, on the all-time UIS junior leaderboard.
The Prairie Stars powered to third in the GLVC Championships, improving on last year’s record-setting year by five places. UIS also peaked at No. 9 in the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) NCAA Division II Midwest Region rankings.
GETTING TO KNOW TYLER HISEROTE
List three words that describe yourself.
Kind, humorous and selfless
If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would it be?
Norway to see the northern lights
What is your favorite holiday?
Christmas/New Year’s
What is your favorite TV show?
Blacklist on Netflix
What is the strangest nickname you have?
Hiroshima, no one could pronounce my last name and that just kind of stuck because it sounded similar
If you could turn any activity into an Olympic sport, what would you have a good chance at winning a medal for?
Napping for sure
Other than the sport you play, what is your favorite sport?
Basketball
Who is your favorite professional athlete?
Parker Stinson, professional runner for Saucony.
Do you have any pets? If so, what are their names?
3 cats (Chloe, Cutsie, and Ginger) and 1 golden retriever named Bella
What is your favorite sports team?
Chicago Cubs
Who on the team is the best-dressed?
Alex Phelps
Who on the team is the best dancer?
Cayden Kirkham
Who on the team is the joker/prankster (Best sense of humor)?
Adam Robson
Who on the team is the best trash talker?
Tyler Pence
Who on the team is the most outgoing?
Blake Jones
Who is the team’s pregame DJ?
Also
Tyler Pence
What are your team’s go-to pregame songs?
Sicko Mode by Travis Scott or I Love It by Kanye West
What are your majors and minor?
Economics and Business Administration Double major and Finance minor
Who is your inspiration?
Tyler Pence because I have seen where he has come from and see all the hard work and dedication that he has put into running and I have witness his great success.
What is your driving force/motivation?
Being remembered as a defining piece of the UIS cross country and track and field programs after I have graduated. I want to be an example for younger athletes to follow.
What is your favorite aspect about sports?
The sense of togetherness that cross country embodies. Any individual runner can run well but it takes an entire team of guys running as a group to get the job done on race day.
What is your favorite non-athletics memory at UIS?
Freshman year in the dorms there was a tornado warning and the entire building had to come down to the first floor for safety and go into the bathrooms. We had like 15 people all in my tiny bathroom while we were waiting for the storm to pass.
What is your favorite athletics memory at UIS?
Getting third place in the conference meet my junior year. That was the first time all season that we ran as a team and it really paid off.
Off the court, what are your favorite hobbies?
Listening to music, hanging out with friends and family, playing games on my phone, and napping when I can.
List a little-known, but amazing fact about yourself.
It’s not totally amazing but a little known fact is that I am terrified of thunderstorms.
Why did I choose UIS?
I chose UIS because of the up and coming athletic program. I wanted to be a part of a growing championship culture where I could really make an impact and start something spectacular.
What is your favorite class?
Economics with Glen Cassidy because is the strangest guy I have ever met.
Who is your favorite professor?
Glen Cassidy because he is goofy.
What are your plans after college?
Hopefully get an internship for a financial advising firm and get base layer of knowledge and slowly working my way up until I can support myself and one day maybe working for a global firm and owning my own firm.
What do you want your lasting legacy to be as a student-athlete at UIS?
Someone that younger athletes can look up to and be a source of inspiration for them to be there best and to show that working hard and doing the little things pay off in the long run.
