Olympic Spotlight: Busy Week For Hawkeye Sports

Hawkeye track and field competed all over the country last weekend and put up big results from coast to coast. The events started on Thursday when Hayden Kuhn ran Iowa's 7th-fastest 3000m steeplechase in school history (8:59.18). Yohanna Yual was close behind, posting Iowa's 8th-fastest-ever time in the same race (9:02.33).

The Hawkeyes continued to pile up wins on Friday. Sydnie Smith won the women's discus event with a 46.96m toss and fellow Hawkeye Jamie Kofron took second (45.70m). The Hawks won the men's discus as well, with Jordan Johnson claiming first place with a 55.55m throw. The Hawkeye women also finished 1-2 in the women's steeplechase. Brooke McKee finished 1st (11:12.62) and Rowan Boulter finished 2nd (11:19.87).

It's a testament to how strong this team is that a week with two top-10 times in school history and three 1-2 finishes feels like a quiet week. The Hawkeyes are challenging themselves by competing in some of the best meets in the country in the lead-up to the Big Ten Outdoor Championships and increased competition will only help as they build towards that meet. Head coach Joey Woody is tinkering with relay lineups and keeping his team fresh to do all he can to ensure the team is peaking at the perfect time.

The men's team is ranked first in the Midwest region, 3rd nationally in the 100m hurdles, and 8th in the 800m in this week's rankings.

The team will host the Musco Twilight next weekend while sending some competitors to run in the Mt. Sac Relay in California.

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Iowa softball (16-18, 4-8) dropped a trio of close games to Michigan (29-14, 9-3) last weekend, falling 8-6 and 9-8 in a Saturday doubleheader before losing the series finale 6-5.

In game one of Saturday's doubleheader the Hawkeyes jumped out to a big early lead, plating four runs in the 1st inning behind RBIs from Soo-Jin Berry, Sammy Diaz, and Devyn Greer. Rylie Moss pushed Iowa's lead to 5-0 in the 4th inning with an RBI knock and it looked like the Hawkeyes were on their way to a decisive win.

But the Wolverines did not go quietly, pulling one run back in the bottom of the 4th before exploding for seven runs in the 5th to take an 8-5 lead. Berry got the rally started in the bottom of the 7th with another RBI to cut the lead to 8-6 but the Hawks couldn't complete the comeback.

Game two was another high-scoring affair. Berry again kicked off the scoring in the top of the 1st, launching a two-run home run to give Iowa another early lead.

The rubber match was again closely fought. Michigan took a 1-0 lead in the first inning but were then held hitless until the 6th inning. Devyn Greer tied the game in the 4th inning and then a pair of infield knocks in the 6th pushed the Hawkeye lead to 3-1. The Wolverines responded with four in the bottom of the 6th to take a 5-3 lead but Jena Young's two-run home run in the 7th tied the game for the Hawkeyes.

Michigan answered with a run in the bottom of the first, but the Hawkeye runs kept coming. Iowa loaded the bases in the 2nd inning and Jena Young drove in two with a single to left field. Brylee Klosterman added another RBI to give Iowa a 5-1 lead.

The lead held at four until the 5th inning when the Hawkeyes pushed three more runs across to take an 8-1 lead. Just like game one, the Wolverines battled back, scoring in each of the final three innings to tie the game at eight in the bottom of the 7th and send the game to extras. The Wolverines won the game with a walk-off home run in the bottom of the 8th.

There was a lot of great softball over the weekend for the Hawkeyes but coming away without a win will sting. The Hawks held late leads in all three games but couldn't close out the win in any of them.

There are certainly silver linings to take away from a tough weekend. Berry and Young, both freshmen, have become huge producers at the plate for the Hawkeyes and the pitching staff has shown themselves to be unhittable at times. Berry was 3-5 in Saturday's doubleheader including four RBIs and Young has flashed the power the coaches were so optimistic about before the season started.

Still, the season gets late quickly in college and the Hawkeyes know that every single game is important going forward. They'll look to get back on the right track against Indiana (29-12, 6-6) next weekend.

Iowa tennis (10-10, 5-4) split a pair of matches over the weekend, falling 4-1 to #16 Ohio State (15-6, 8-1) before bouncing back to sweep Penn State (5-14, 4-5) 4-0 in their final home match of the year.

Against OSU, Iowa won the doubles point after a pair of tiebreaker wins, but couldn't turn that into momentum in the singles matches where the Buckeyes swept all four points. Iowa rebounded well and swept Penn State on senior day, again winning the doubles point before securing singles wins on courts 1,2, and 5 to clinch the sweep.

Hawkeye winners included Daianne Hayashida, Marisa Schmidt, and senior Vipasha Mehra.

Iowa will finish up the regular season on the road next weekend when they travel to take on Michigan (21-3, 9-0) (4/20) and Michigan State (10-13, 1-8) (4/21).

The Iowa men's and women's golf teams were in action last weekend with the men hosting the Hawkeye Invitational and the women participating in the Therese Hession Buckeye Invitational.

On the men's side, freshman Noah Kent again led the way for the Hawkeyes, tying for 9th place at the event at -4. Kent carded six birdies during the third round to push up the leaderboard. It is Kent's third top-10 finish of the season. Hogan Hansen finished with a matching -4 to tie with Kent for 9th place, his first top-10 finish of the year. The team finished at -5, just two shots back from 2nd place on the team leaderboard.

The women's top finisher was Riley Lewis, who finished in a tie for 36th (+13). Madison Dabagia was one shot behind Lewis in a tie for 40th and Paula Miranda two shots back in a tie for 44th.

The men's team will compete in the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate next weekend in Columbus while the women's team will travel to Maryland to compete in the Big Ten Championships.

Iowa rowing put together a strong weekend at the Big Ten/Big 12 Double Duel, winning six of seven races on Saturday and Sunday. Other schools in attendance included Minnesota, Oklahoma, Kansas State, and Kansas.

On Friday, Iowa secured wins from the 1st, 2nd, and 4th Varsity Eight boats and the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Varsity Four boats. The same boats also won their Saturday races. The Hawks will be back in the water on April 19th at the Big Ten Invitational in Sarasota.