The midwest saw some of its biggest snowfalls of the year last week, which of course means it's time for spring sports like softball and baseball to begin their season.

The start of spring sports as Iowa's winter teams wind down their regular season means we have lots to cover so let's jump right in.

Ryan Johnson and Iowa track and field continued their blistering indoor season last weekend with a slew of top-10 marks and another school record.

The Hawkeyes started strong on Friday, as Emmanuel Njoku claimed the long jump title at the Tyson Invitational in Arkansas. Njoku jumped 7.69m, good for 5th all-time in Iowa history. Maud Zeffou-Poaty was equally impressive on the women's side, posting a 6.27m mark that improved on her 4th-best mark in school history.

In the women's 400m race, two Hawkeyes made their way onto the school's top-10 list as Damaris Mutunga and Chioma Nwachukwu finished in 52.14 and 52.25 seconds respectively, claiming 3rd and 4th on Iowa's all-time list. Brayden Burnett claimed Iowa's final top-10 mark of the day, finishing the men's 5000m race in 14:06.81, 8th-best at Iowa, while Paige Magee was the top collegiate runner in the 60m hurdles prelims with a time of 8.20.

Saturday's competitions saw Hawkeyes break into the top-10 in three more events. Lia Love ran a career-best 23.38 in the women's 200m hurdles, 4th all-time at Iowa, Jaiden Itson ran a 1:23.80 in the women's 600-yard race, 8th in school history, and James Fingalsen posted a 1:49.10 in the men's 800m to earn the 10th spot on Iowa's all-time list.

But Ryan Johnson was again the star of the weekend for the Hawkeyes, blowing past his previous school record with a monster 24.59m throw. The mark is the 2nd longest in the NCAA this year and the 4th-longest throw in NCAA history. He easily claimed the event title and the Hawkeyes swept the podium for good measure with Sean Smith (21.71m) and Austin Busch (20.98m) earning podium spots as well.

Johnson has put on a historic show to start the season, flying past anything we've ever seen from a Hawkeye thrower. It's a bit of a cruel fate that one of the best in NCAA history just happens to be competing in the same season as another historic performance, keeping him from waltzing to an NCAA title. Still, Johnson has improved consistently throughout the season, so there's no reason to expect that he's hit his ceiling here. Only a sophomore, it's incredibly exciting to think of just how far Johnson can push himself both this season and throughout the rest of his Hawkeye career.

The same can be said for much of the Iowa track and field team. As they prepare for their first indoor Big Ten Championships with the added competition of the West Coast teams, the Hawks have put together an impressive regular season list of accomplishments. School records and top-10 marks are all over the result sheets each week, not to mention the PRs that are too numerous to recap here. Asking Iowa to compete with the likes of Oregon is probably unfair, but don't tell that to this group, who no doubt has their eyes set on some post-season accolades. The Hawks will host the Iowa Open next weekend in their final tune-up before the Big Ten Championships on February 28th.

Iowa baseball (1-2) began the 2025 season over the weekend, losing two of three to South Florida (2-1). The Hawkeyes dropped the opener 5-4 before bouncing back to even the series with an 8-2 win. The Bulls then won the rubber match 9-5.

In the season opener, Cade Obermueller took the mound and put together five innings of one-hit ball, striking out ten and allowing just one run. The Bulls took a 1-0 lead in the first inning but Gable Mitchell put down a bases-loaded bunt in the third that tied the game at one. Two innings later, Mitchell gave the Hawks a 2-1 lead with an RBI single.

A 7th-inning grand slam gave USF a 5-2 lead that proved too much to overcome for the Hawkeyes. Miles Risley got the 9th-inning rally started with an RBI triple and Ben Wilmes pulled the Hawks within one, but that was as close as Iowa would get. Iowa outhit USF 8-3 but weren't able to string enough hits together to get the win.

Iowa took out some of its frustrations from the series opener on Saturday, pelting the Bulls with eight runs en route to a comfortable win. Risley hit the first Hawkeye home run of the season in 2nd to tie the game at two before Reese Moore and Mitchell each added RBIs in the 3rd to put the Hawks ahead 4-2 in the 4th.

Another two-run dinger from Daniel Rogers broke the game open and Jackson Beaman added a 6th-inning solo shot to give the Hawkeyes some insurance. Moore drove in two more in the 8th to push Iowa's lead to 8-2. Aaron Savary was strong on the mound, striking out a career-high ten batters in six innings. Iowa once again held USF to just three hits in the game.

The Sunday rubber match was a back-and-forth affair that was broken open after a bases-loaded error from the Hawks. Gable Mitchell continued his hot start to the season, driving in two runs in the first to give Iowa an early 2-1 lead. After USF tied the game, Beaman pushed Iowa ahead again with a two-RBI single in the 5th. The Hawkeyes got the bases-loaded groundball they wanted in the bottom of the 6th, but a fielding allowed the Bulls to put together a big inning and pull ahead 7-4. Two more runs allowed in the 7th ultimately doomed Iowa to a 9-5 loss.

It was a frustrating opening weekend for the Hawkeyes, but not without silver linings. Obermueller and Savary looked especially effective for their first starts of the season and the offense was potent, led by an explosive opening weekend from Gable Mitchell and two home runs from Daniel Rogers. A few more timely hits and some cleaner performances in the field and Iowa could easily be 3-0 to start the year.

Of course, there are no rewards for being "almost good enough" and the Hawks will have to play a more complete brand of baseball if they want to win consistently. Every win counts when it comes to chasing that NCAA regional berth and Iowa will have another opportunity to add to the win column this week. Tuesday's scheduled game against Loras was canceled so the Hawkeyes will next take the field at the Stetson Tournament next weekend for games against Notre Dame (2-1), Stetson (3-1), and UMBC.

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Iowa gymnastics finished 4th at the Zou to the Lou quad meet on Friday before bouncing back to best Illinois 196.200-194.975 on Sunday. At the quad meet Iowa posted a 195.000, behind #9 Missouri (197.150), #14 Alabama (196.675), and #26 Illinois (196.225). Aurelie Tran's stellar freshman season continued as she scored 39.275 in the all-around to finish 3rd. Fellow freshman Cassie Lee finished 2nd on beam with a 9.900, Hanna Castillo posted a personal-best 9.875 on vault to finish 3rd, and Emily Erb tied a season-high with a 9.925 score on floor.

After Friday's highly competitive meet, the Hawks returned home with a chance for immediate redemption against conference-foe Illinois. The Hawks didn't have their full lineup on the short turn but still claimed wins in three of four events, led by a program-record-tying 9.975 performance on floor from Erb.

Tran and Karina Munoz tied in the all-around with season-best 39.350s. Tran earned a share of the title on bars with a 9.825 and took home a share of the beam title with a 9.875 as the Hawkeyes scored a season-best 49.175 in the event. Iowa added another season-best on floor, posting a 49.375 that featured career-best performances from Tran, Munoz, Castillo, and Erb.

As with any team that includes as many young contributors as Iowa's group does, consistency is the key to Iowa's success. Their scores have varied as lineups have shifted and the Hawkeyes' underclassmen get used to the grind of college sports. At their best, they have the potential for program-best and top-of-conference marks. They now rank 17th nationally on vault and 25th nationally on floor.

Hopefully, as the season continues, the GymHawks will settle in and continue to push their scores higher and higher. They'll be back in action on Friday when they travel to take on Maryland.

Iowa softball (6-3) dominated at the Lion Invitational over the weekend, beating Abilene Christian (1-9) and East Texas A&M (2-8) twice each en route to a perfect 4-0 weekend.

The Hawkeyes kicked off the weekend with a 12-0 shutout of Abilene Christian in five innings. Soo-Jin Berry and Desiree Rivera each homered and drove in two RBIs in the game, while Jalen Adams pitched four innings and allowed just one hit. The Hawkeyes broke the game open with a six-run 3rd inning and never looked back. Three runs each in the 4th and 5th innings was enough to give Iowa the run-rule win.

East Texas A&M hung with the Hawkeyes in the next game, but Iowa prevailed 4-2. The decisive moment came in the 4th inning after Iowa hit two singles to start the inning. Hannah Lindsay was next up and she promptly deposited the ball over the fence to give Iowa a 3-0 lead. The Lions scored two in the 5th to keep the game close, but a clutch insurance run in the 7th off of a Lindsay sac fly gave Iowa some breathing room.

Iowa's offense went nuclear in their final two games of the weekend, besting ACU 17-4 and ETAM 10-1 in a pair of shortened games. Berry and Lindsay each homered again in Iowa's 17-4 drubbing and Jena Young added two RBIs as she went 3-4. Lindsay homered twice in the game, driving in six as part of a weekend performance that earned her Big Ten Player of the Week honors.

Against ETAM, Berry again homered, giving her three on the weekend, as the Hawks cruised to a weekend sweep. Lindsey drove in three more runs and Talia Tretton drove in two after starting earlier in the day against Abilene Christian.

Iowa was close to a few ranked wins to start the season and it was encouraging to see them continue that level of play even as the competition level dipped. Iowa was a force at the plate, led by Lindsay and Berry, and the Hawks wasted no time taking care of business. As the team adjusts to interim head coach Brian Levin -- head coach Renee Gillispie announced she would be stepping away from coaching in the 2025 season to deal with a personal health matter in December -- it's encouraging to see the group retain its focus after some heartbreaking losses and a let up in the schedule. The team has the talent to be competitive and showed their potential all weekend.

They'll be back on the field next weekend at the FIU Panther Invitational in Miami.

Iowa tennis (5-2) won both of their matches last weekend, beating Memphis (1-9) 4-2 and Ole Miss (7-2) 4-1.

In Friday's road win against the Tigers, Iowa claimed the doubles point to take an early lead. From there, they added wins on courts three, four, and six from Marisa Schmidt, Pia Kranholt, and Barbora Porkorna (who is now 6-0 on the year) to clinch the match.

Against Ole Miss, the Hawkeyes again claimed the doubles point and an early 1-0 lead. #76 Tereza Dejnozkova bested her 86th-ranked opponent on court one to give Iowa a 2-0 lead and the Hawks added wins from Schmidt and Daianne Hayashida to take the match.

Two road wins against major competition is a great weekend for the Hawks as they continue their non-conference schedule. They'll be back on the court on Saturday when they take on Kansas State (2-3).

Iowa men's golf competed in the Puerto Rico Classic early last week, finishing 13th in the event. Josh Lundmark was the low-scorer for the Hawkeyes, finishing 27th at -4. He shot a three-under 69 in the third round, including four birdies and an eagle. Gage Messingham and Max Tjoa were next on the leaderboard for Iowa, finishing tied for 55th at +1.

As a team, the Hawks shot +3 for the tournament, which was won by Purdue (-39). The Hawkeyes will be back on the links on March 2nd when they compete in the Colleton River Collegiate.