It was another packed week for Hawkeye sports, filled with record-breaking performances and impressive wins.
Let's jump right in.
Olympic Spotlight: Track and Field
Iowa track and field competed across the country at various meets last weekend, rewriting the Hawkeye record books all weekend.
The Hawks started the weekend with a pair of top-10 steeplechase races and two top-10 10,000m races. Luke Knepp's 8:39.54 in the 3,000m steeplechase was the 2nd-fastest in Iowa history and Yohana Yuel ran an 8:53.35, 5th all-time at Iowa. Will Ryan added in the 7th-best 10,000m race (29:38.85) and Brayden Burnett ran the 6th-fastest 10,000m race in 29:35.19.
On Friday, Iowa posted three more top-10 marks. Sean Smith and Austin Busch threw the 2nd and 5th-best hammer throws in school history, with Smith tossing 68.25m and Busch throwing 66.78m. In the men's decathlon, Sal Capaldo scored 7,221 points, 5th all-time at Iowa and Carlee Rochford scored 5,114 points in the women's heptathlon, 8th-best all-time.
Day 3 brought more wins and more history for the Hawks. Lizzy Korczak took home the win in the women's javelin with a 50.80m throw and Wisdom Williams won the women's shot put with a 15.98m mark. Holly Duax added in Iowa's 7th-fastest ever women's 200m race (23.50), Ali Frandsen ran Iowa's 10th-fastest 400m hurdles (59.00), and Jeanne Le Goff posted Iowa's 7th-best triple jump (12.67m).
The Hawkeyes somehow found a way to raise the bar even higher in the final day of competition, setting three school records. Kalen Walker already owned the men's 100m record, but he shaved another .03 seconds off his time, finishing in 10.06.
Freshman Chioma Nwachukwu ran a school-record 51.26 in the women's 400m and followed it up by joining Olicia Lucas, Damaris Mutunga, and Alivia Williams in the women's 4x400m relay and setting a second school record on the day. The relay group finished in 3:30.92, improving on their 2nd-best mark by almost a full second.
It may start to feel commonplace with how often these Hawks are resetting the record books, but it only happens because the Hawkeyes are constantly bringing in extraordinary talent. Not only are the Hawkeyes beating some of the best to ever wear black and gold, but they're also breaking their own records consistently.
These big performances aren't just the result of a perfect storm, they're consistently great performances from one of Iowa's best teams ever. Freshmen and veterans, runners and throwers, it doesn't seem to matter, the Hawkeyes just perform, often at historic levels.
They'll next compete in the Drake Relays and Kip Janvrin Open this coming weekend.
Baseball
Iowa baseball (27-11, 17-4 Big Ten) swept Michigan (23-17, 8-10 Big Ten) last weekend, beating the Wolverines 6-5, 3-2, and 7-4 in a momentum-building weekend.
The Hawks kicked off the series with a comeback thriller on Friday night. Ben Wilmes gave the Hawkeyes a 1-0 lead in the top of the first, racing home on an infield grounder. The next inning, he smashed a two-run shot to left to push Iowa's lead to 3-0.
The Wolverines pulled one back in the bottom of the second, but Iowa again extended its lead as Daniel Rogers drove in a run with an RBI double. In the bottom of the fourth, the Wolverines rallied, plating four and taking a 5-4 lead, but the Hawkeyes absorbed the punch and kept on pushing.
Another double from Rogers tied the game up in the top of the fifth and Reese Moore smashed a liner up the middle and off the pitcher's glove to put the Hawkeyes back on top 6-5. Michigan threatened late, but the Hawkeye bullpen slammed the door shut and gave Iowa the one-run win.
In Saturday's game, Michigan scored first with a first inning solo home run. Wilmes again jump started the Hawkeye offense, tying the game at one with a third inning sac fly. A squeeze bunt aka the HellerBall Special gave the Hawks a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning and an RBI single from Kooper Schulte put the Hawkeyes up 3-1. Michigan again threatened a late comeback, but the Iowa bullpen limited it to one run and came away with the 3-2 win.
It was another impressive outing on the mound for the Hawkeyes. Aaron Savary pitched seven innings and gave up just one run while striking out seven and the bullpen took the narrow lead and preserved it with some timely strikeouts, and a bit of help from the defense.
After clinching the series, the Hawkeyes refused to take Sunday off, rallying to beat the Wolverines for their third conference sweep of the season.
Michigan again took an early lead with a run in the bottom of the first and the game remained 1-0 until the top of the fifth inning. In the fifth, the Hawkeyes stormed back when Miles Risley smacked a two-out liner through the right side to drive in two runs.
Blake Guerin added some insurance for the Hawkeyes in the top of the seventh, but the Wolverines answered with one of their own to cut the lead to 3-2. Michigan tied the game in the bottom of the eighth inning, but Iowa refused to let the sweep slip away. The Hawkeyes exploded for four in the top of the ninth, capped by a bases-clearing pinch hit double from Mitch Wood.
Michigan scored once in the bottom of the ninth, but the Hawkeyes came away with the 7-4 win.
All three of the weekend's wins were nail-biters and in all three, the Hawkeyes came up big when it mattered most. Iowa's bullpen was lights out as they closed out a pair of one-run wins and on a Sunday afternoon where a late Wolverine rally could have led to a frustrating loss, they rallied for a four-spot and a sweep.
The team continues to find ways to win, no matter what it takes. There have been bigger stars in recent years and greater expectations, but this group has quietly gone about its business and now sits atop the Big Ten.
Unfortunately, a Tuesday loss to Western Illinois derailed much of the weekend's momentum. The Hawkeyes fell behind 4-1 after five innings and while they tried to muster a comeback, the Leathernecks kept coming, eventually winning 7-3. The Hawks walked eight batters in the game and left 12 runners on base.
Iowa bounced back Wednesday with a big win over St. Thomas. The Hawkeyes jumped on the Tommies early and took a 7-2 lead after three innings. The offense continued to add on, scoring four more in the sixth, another in the seventh, and three in the eighth to clinch the run-rule victory.
Indiana (22-18, 12-9 Big Ten) comes to town this weekend for a three-game series.
Softball
Iowa softball (29-16, 10-6 Big Ten) swept Penn State (20-24, 6-10 Big Ten) over the weekend, winning 2-1, 10-2, and 3-1 before winning a midweek matchup over Drake 4-0.
Friday's opener was a pitcher's duel, as Jalen Adams took the mound for Iowa and pitched a complete game, giving up two hits and only the one run. The Nittany Lions actually took an early 1-0 lead in the second, but the Hawkeyes rallied in the fourth. Devin Simon walked and came around to score on an Avery Jackson RBI double and after a Jena Young walk, an Iowa double steal pushed home the winning run.
The Hawkeyes only managed two hits of their own, but they were scrappy and aggressive on the bases to manufacture enough offense to come away with the opening win. Adams was solid on the mound and the Hawkeye defense was electric behind her to shut down any PSU threats.
After a Sunday rainout, the Hawkeye bats exploded in the first of two Monday games, blowing out Penn State 10-2. PSU again scored early, this time taking a 2-0 lead after the first inning, but the Iowa offense came to life in the fourth inning. Avery Jackson and Hannah Lindsay got the party started with back-to-back home runs, tying the game at two.
Two bases loaded walks pushed the Hawkeye lead to 4-2 and a Talia Tretton sac fly added another insurance run. The Hawkeyes added another in the bottom of the 5th to take a 6-2 lead and then piled on four more in the bottom of the sixth to earn the 10-2 run rule win.
The Hawks finally struck first in the series finale, putting up a three spot in the bottom of the 3rd behind a Jena Young three-run shot to left center field.
The Hawkeye offense cooled off after that point, but Adams was up to the task on the mound, pitching her second complete game of the series and allowing just one run en route to the Hawks' 3-1 win. Adams retired the final seven Penn State batters she faced as the Hawks earned the series sweep.
For the first time in four years, Iowa softball has multiple Big Ten sweeps in a season. The group continues to defy expectations behind big seasons from Young, Adams, and Jackson. Talia Tretton has been impressive at the plate and on the mound in her debut season and the Hawkeyes have quietly played themselves into sixth place in the Big Ten standings.
Iowa added a solid midweek win over Drake on Wednesday. After four scoreless innings, the Hawkeyes broke through with a two-RBI double from Desiree Rivera. A few batters later Soo-Jin Berry added two more with an RBI single of her own. The combo of Tretton and Adams kept Drake off the scoreboard, giving Iowa the 4-0 win.
The Hawkeyes travel to Michigan State (14-25, 4-12 Big Ten) for a three-game set this weekend.
Tennis
#32 Iowa tennis (13-9, 7-6 Big Ten) won a nail-biter 4-3 over Oregon (9-13, 2-11 Big Ten) last weekend before falling 4-0 to #18 Washington (19-3, 11-2 Big Ten). Against the Ducks, the Hawkeyes lost a hotly contested doubles point, but the Hawkeyes quickly bounced back in the singles matches with wins on Court 1 from Tereza Dejnozkova (6-3, 7-6) and Court 2 from Daianne Hayashida (6-0, 6-3).
Up 2-1, the Hawkeyes pushed the Ducks to the brink with a 6-3, 7-5 win on Court 3 from Marisa Schmidt, but Oregon battled back to tie the match at 3-3 with wins on Court 6 and Court 5. With the entire crowd watching, Barbora Porkona fought off a first-set loss to take the 2nd 6-3 and push the 3rd to tiebreaker. Down to the final game, Porkorna came up clutch, clinching the point and the match with a 7-6 third set win.
Unfortunately, Sunday's regular season finale was less successful for the Hawks. The 18th-ranked Huskies handily won the doubles point and controlled each of the singles matches as well. Hayashida won her first set on Court 1, but the Huskies cruised to straight-set wins on Courts 2, 3, and 4 to clinch the match.
Even with Sunday's disappointment, the conference season was quite successful for the Hawkeyes. They finished above .500 in conference and earned the ninth seed for the upcoming Big Ten tournament. The group has taken care of business against lesser competition and pushed some of their toughest competition to the brink.
Expecting a run in the tournament with top-seeded Michigan (21-3, 13-0 Big Ten) waiting in the second round may not be realistic, but a first round win for the Hawks would be a solid way to cap off their conference slate as they push towards a potential NCAA berth.
Rowing
Iowa rowing went up against some fierce competition at the Big Ten Invitational and held their own against some of the best in the country. The Hawkeyes opened up competition on Friday with two third place finishes from the 3V8 and 4V8 boats. Both of the Hawkeye boats were filled with first-year rowers. The 4V8 boat was only a second behind the 2nd place finisher and the 3V8 boat beat their next closest finisher by almost six seconds.
On Saturday, the Hawkeyes showed improvement and added three more top-3 finishes. The 3V8 boat won their race, beating Michigan State by almost two seconds. The boat improved their time by more than a second from Friday's race. The 1V8 boat rallied late to finish 3rd, and the 4V8 boat was solidly 2nd in their race, besting the 3rd place finisher by almost 15 seconds.
The Hawkeyes aren't quite on the level of the best in the country, especially given how many newcomers they have, but they've shown impressive improvement from one race to the next and have racked up a few wins as well. They'll be back in the water May 3rd against Drake.
Golf
Iowa women's golf competed at the Big Ten Championships last week, finishing 14th, while the men's team finished 12th at the Boilermaker Invite.
On the women's side, the Hawkeyes were led by Sophomore Maura Peters who rode a final round 70 to a tie for 29th on the leaderboard. She gained 23 spots on the leaderboard with her strong performance Sunday. Paula Miranda finished one shot behind Peters to tie for 37th and Lily Huether finished tied for 50th.
For the men, Gage Messingham was the top performer, finishing tied for 9th at -3. Messingham was the tournament's top performer on par-3s and earned his third top-10 finish of the season. Max Tjoa was three shots back of Messingham, finishing tied for 23rd (E).
The Hawkeye men will compete in the Big Ten Championships in Maryland this weekend.
