The Daily Iowan: What made you want to come to Iowa?

Kalen Walker: My decision to come to Iowa was a pretty easy choice for me, honestly. Both my parents went to Iowa, and I’ve been an Iowa fan my whole life. 

I wanted to come to Iowa out of high school, but I didn’t have the marks, and I was already taking some dual credit classes at Indian Hills [Junior College]. 

When I was at Indian Hills, I improved and ran some good marks. Then [Iowa track and field director Joey] Woody called me up and gave me the opportunity, and it was a no-brainer for me. I accepted right away. It was a walk-on, too, but it didn’t matter to me. I wanted to be a Hawkeye so bad. 

What motivated you to start track and field? 

I’ve been doing it since I was in junior high. I was at a small high school in Iowa, and we just did all the sports. I played all the sports, and that’s what you did. I feel like at some of the big schools, you just have to do one and focus on because there’s so many good people. I think we had nine people on our track team at one point.

Our basketball team had four seniors. Pretty much if you went out, you were on varsity, so it was fun. It wasn’t anything too crazy. Track was just another sport at the time. 

I was hanging out with my friends, and it was really fun because I wasn’t as worried about how I was doing. We would talk to girls from other schools and stuff at meets, too. That was fun.

What is your favorite track and field memory of all time? 

My favorite track and field memory of all time is probably when I won Big Tens last year. I think the biggest reason for that is that I was going through a lot of injuries at the time, and I really had to work for that one. 

All of the struggles made it feel better when it actually came and happened. I also feel like I’ve been able to win the 100 for a few years, but it just never lined up for me, so it felt really good to win. 

Do you have any other hobbies or interests outside of track? If so, what are they?

I love hunting and fishing and being outside. I like other sports, too. Like I said, I played football, basketball, baseball in high school. I like doing that kind of stuff, like hitting and batting practice, or going and shooting hoops, or playing pickup basketball. Fishing and hunting is my favorite thing, though. I just bought a fishing pole last night in Florida, so I can go fishing here. That’s definitely one of my biggest hobbies for sure.

Who has been a big influence in your life and why?

Probably my dad, honestly. I don’t think he ran track ever in his life, but it’s inspiring how much he sacrifices for us. I know he goes through a bunch of crap in his life every day, but it just doesn’t matter. 

He still gets up and does the work and provides all the time, no matter what. I’m having fun, but I know he probably is not having fun most days, but it doesn’t matter because he’s providing for us, and he’s happy we’re doing good. That’s pretty inspiring.

What’s your favorite professional sports team?

The Buffalo Bills. I used to like LaSean McCoy when he was there. After, he was with the Chiefs, but I liked him when he was with the Bills. I went to a game in Kansas City, and all the Bills fans were giving me high fives and stuff. The fan base is crazy.

What is your dream vacation? Why?

I’ve always wanted to go to Alaska, but it’s so cold there. I’d probably go somewhere warmer. I’ve always wanted to go to Australia. I’ve heard so many fun things about Australia. I guess I don’t really know a whole lot about it, but I think that would be a fun trip for sure.

What’s your favorite movie or TV show?

My favorite TV show is “Breaking Bad.” It’s just so good. At first it’s kind of boring, but once you get into it, you can’t stop watching. I would stay up all night watching it because I couldn’t turn it off. I was probably up for 48 hours straight at one point just watching “Breaking Bad.”

Do you have any pre-meet rituals? If so, what are they? 

The night before, I’ll always drink a pop, like Dr. Pepper or Coke. I don’t know why, but one time I did it and I felt really good the next day and I did good in practice, so I kept doing it. It’s been working for me, but I don’t know if it has anything to do with it at all. Then, I listen to calm music to calm me down because I get so amped up. When I get amped up, I just forget everything that I practiced and then I end up just running as hard as I can rather than actually execute my race. Sometimes I like to listen to Christian music. When I’m thinking about God at the same time, it makes it easier to take off the pressure and be calm under chaos. 

What are you majoring in? What are you hoping to do with your degree?

My major is sports and rec management. I would like to work somewhere in sports. With all the stuff that I’ve done through NIL, such as negotiating with different companies and talking logistics throughout these deals, I feel like I’ve gotten quite the skillset through that and quite the network, so something that I could apply those skills in, I would be pretty good at. I’m hoping to do this track thing as long as I can. Once it dries up, then I’ll probably get into something like that.