Olympic Spotlight: Iowa Track and Field Excels at Regionals
The postseason started for two of Iowa's top teams last week, with Iowa baseball making a run to the Big Ten Tournament Championship Game and Iowa track and field competing in the NCAA Regional meet. Everything's big time now that we're in the postseason, so we're forgoing the spotlight once again this week.
TRACK AND FIELD
Iowa track and field competed in the NCAA West Regional meet over the weekend, and put together an impressive performance, earning NCAA championship berths on each day of the meet.
The meet started on Wednesday with the Hawkeyes earning four spots in the quarterfinals. Austin Kresley qualified in the men's 200m, finishing with the fastest time at the meet (20.33). Jenoah Mckiver earned a berth in the men's 400m quarterfinals, winning his heat in 45.70s, while Julien Gillum won his own 400m hurdles heat in 50.37s to earn the Hawkeyes' 3rd quarterfinal berth. Iowa's last Wednesday qualifier was Gratt Reed, who qualified in the 110m hurdles, finishing in 13.70s.
On Thursday, it was the women's team's turn to shine, as they added ten NCAA berths. Amanda Howe earned her first career NCAA finals berth in the hammer throw with a 62.56m toss. Three Hawkeyes qualified for the quarterfinals in the 100m hurdles, with Paige Magee (13.06), Tionna Tobias (13.11), and Myreanna Bebe (13.12) all earning spots. Iowa added three more quarterfinals berths in the 400m hurdles.
Magee earned her 2nd berth with a 57.15s finish, while Mariel Bruxvoort (57.32) and Nylah Perry (59.20) also earned a spot. Lia Love qualified in the 100m with an 11.42s time, Alli Bookin-Nosbisch qualified in the 800m race with a 2:06.43s race, and Audrey Biermann ran the 7th-fastest 400m time in Iowa history to earn her quarterfinals berth (52.67).
Friday was the male runners' first shot at NCAA qualifications and the Hawkeyes did not miss their moment. Kalen Walker, Austin Kresley, Gratt Reed, and DeAndre Stapleton Jr.'s 5th-fastest 4x100m time in school history (39.19) was enough to earn a quarterfinal berth and the 4x400m team of Austin West, Chadrick Richards, Spencer Gudgel, and Julien Gillum followed suit, qualifying with a time of 3:04.94.
Kresley, Reed, and Gillum all earned NCAA Championship berths in their races, with Kresley running a 20.35s 200m race, Reed finishing his 110m hurdles in 13.69s, and Gillum's 50.40s time in the 400 hurdles being fast enough for a championship bid. James Carter Jr. also earned a bid to Austin with his 15.75m triple jump performance. Jenoah Mckiver, unfortunately, did not run in the 400m quarterfinals, presumably due to an injury that flared up between Wednesday and Friday.
The Hawkeye women closed out the meet on Saturday by adding five more NCAA Championship berths. Paige Magee qualified in the 100m hurdles (12.93) and 400m hurdles, running the 2nd-fastest 400 hurdles time in school history (56.62). Bebe also qualified in the 100 hurdles with a 12.99s time and Bruxvoort added another Hawkeye berth in the 400m hurdles, finishing in 57.04s.
Iowa also earned a championship berth in the 4x400m relay when the crew of Aliyanna Dorn, Audrey Bierman, Tesa Roberts, and Mariel Bruxvoort finished in 3:33.16, the 3rd-fastest in school history. Iowa's final championship berth came from the 4x100m relay team of LaSarah Hargrove, Lia Love, Alexandria Edison, and Paige Magee, who ran the 3rd-fastest time in school history, 44.08s.
It was a huge weekend for the Iowa track and field program, which showcased the same depth of talent that has been on display all season. The Hawks qualified in track and field events on both the men's and women's sides and it wasn't just a few athletes carrying the load. This Hawkeye team is deep and talented, and it's great to watch them get the results they deserve on the big stage. Coach Woody has built an incredibly healthy program and it will be interesting to see how many points they're able to earn at the NCAA Championship meet, which gets underway on June 7th.
BASEBALL
Iowa baseball started the tournament off with a 13-0 beatdown of Michigan before picking up a big win over #2 seed Indiana. That win earned them another bout against the Wolverines and the Hawks were once again up to the challenge, earning a trip to the championship game against top-seeded Maryland. The Hawkeye pitching staff put together a good game against the Terps, but the Maryland pitching stifled the Iowa bats and the Hawks eventually fell 4-0.
It was a disappointing end to a great week for the Hawkeyes, but Iowa was balancing their desire to earn a conference championship with the need to be well-rested for the upcoming NCAA Regionals. On Monday, the Hawks found out they would be traveling to Terre Haute as the #2 seed in their regional. We'll have more coverage throughout the week as the Hawks prepare for their first regional appearance in six years.