Jacob Aune has been wondering what he might accomplish as a distance runner if he focused on the sport at the Division I level.

Now he'll find out.

Aune has accepted an offer to join the track and cross country programs at Iowa State University as a walk-on and will join the Cyclones this summer.

Aune, a senior at Cedar Rapids Prairie, had previously decided to play Division III basketball at Coe College, but he's informed the Kohawks that he's changed his mind.

Aune visited Iowa State this past weekend and is looking forward to running for the Cyclones and studying kinesiology.

"The second thoughts started to creep in during the indoor track season, just realizing the potential that I have," he said Tuesday night. "A couple of weeks before the Drake Relays I really wanted to look into some other opportunities I might have running.

"Running has been on my mind and I've been thinking I want to keep doing it."

Aune was a member of the Prairie cross country team that won the state title when he was a junior in 2010. He placed fourth in the individual standings at the state cross country meet last fall as a senior and was a member of Prairie's 4x400 relay team that won a title at Drake Relays last month. He also finished eighth in the 3200 meter run at Drake.

Aune said winning the 4x400 relay at Drake was a great experience, but not the reason he's decided to run in college instead of playing basketball. "Obviously it didn't hurt at all, but it really wasn't a big factor in why I want to keep running," he said.

Aune has posted the seventh-fastest time in the 3200 meter run in Class 4A this season at 9:25.84. At 6-foot-2 and 145 pounds, he's built for distance running but also has a good kick that helps him win races at the end.

Aune averaged 10 points for the Prairie basketball team this past season and was looking forward to playing at Coe.

"I'm definitely going to miss basketball," he said. "It's going to be really hard not to put the uniform on anymore, but I know I was going to have to make a sacrifice either way, whether it was running or basketball, and unfortunately it's going to be basketball."

In the final analysis, getting a chance to run for a strong program in the Big 12 Conference was too good to refuse.

"It's a Division I experience I'm really looking forward to," he said. "Just trying to train hard and be as good as I can possibly be is very exciting to me."