The winter season always feels the most compressed and within a week of the new semester, the Hawkeye winter sports are in full swing. For sports like wrestling, it's already creeping towards championship season, while track and field and tennis are just getting started.

There's a ton to cover, so let's jump in.

The Hawkeye track and field team continued their indoor ramp-up last weekend, hosting the Hawkeye Invitational. Just like their first meet a month earlier, the Hawks put up big marks, capped by a record-setting weight throw from sophomore Ryan Johnson.

Johnson launched a 24.00m throw that shattered the previous Iowa record. In fact, he broke the record in his first throw of the meet, putting up a mark of 23.57m and then bettering that mark twice more. Johnson's monster toss ranks first nationally this season. Sean Smith put up Iowa's 2nd-best mark of all time in the event, with a 22.26m throw.

Wisdom Williams had a big day of her own Friday, claiming the 9th spot on the all-time list in the women's weight throw with an 18.41m throw. Alivia Bauer, who owns the 5th-best throw ever at Iowa, won the event (19.58m).

Iowa kept the big marks coming on Saturday as the track events kicked off. Chioma Nwachukwu won the women's 400m race with the 7th-best time in school history (53.32s), a mark that is 3rd-best in Division I this season. The remaining field events were successes for the Hawkeyes too. Precious Irivi set the 7th-best Iowa mark ever in the men's triple jump (15.27m), Jeanne Le Goff hopped, skipped, and jumped to the 4th-best Hawkeye mark ever in the women's triple jump (12.87m), Maud Zeffou-Poaty won the women's long jump with the 4th-best mark in school history (6.19m), and Abraham Vogelsang's 5.00m pole vault was the 7th-best ever at Iowa. On the day, Iowa won nine events.

It's still early, especially for the runners, but the Hawkeyes are putting up some giant numbers that count no matter when they take place. Head coach Joey Woody has continued to inject talent into this group via recruiting and transfers that are making immediate impacts on the track and in the field.

Johnson's monster throw, in his Hawkeye debut, sets the tone for what should be another big season for the Hawkeyes. Iowa has now set three school records before the start of February and no doubt has its eyes set on competing for some Big Ten Championship event wins.

The competition took a major step up with the addition of the West Coast schools, likely to the point that a team championship against the likes of Oregon may be out of reach. Still, individual talent is plentiful for Iowa and they will certainly make some noise on the conference and national stage this season.

The Hawkeyes will be back in competition next weekend at the Larry Wieczorek Invitational.

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Iowa women's wrestling picked up two more convincing victories over the weekend, trouncing Augustana 44-1 and Grand Valley State 35-7 in their home finale.

Against Augustana, Ava Bayless and Brianna Gonzalez picked up decisive wins to start the meet and Cali Leng sent an energetic shock through the crowd with a pin pin at 124. Naomi Simon and Alivia White added two more pins, both in less than a minute, to put a stamp on a dominant win.

Grand Valley State was a step up in competition, but the results were more of the same. Gonzalez kept her undefeated season alive with another win, and Leng won a tough bout or her 4th-ranked opponent. Emmily Patneaud earned Iowa's first pin of the meet at 131, and Macey Kitly followed with a ranked win to keep the Hawkeye momentum rolling. Kennedy Blades wowed with a 38-second pin and Kylie Welker and Alivia White closed out the meet with a pair of tech fall wins.

The Hawks are in another class compared to the opponents they've faced so far this season. For most of the matches, the result is never in doubt, only how fast it will be achieved. Still, perfection has no room for error, and Iowa will have to continue to stay focused and hungry to reach its ultimate goal. They'll be back on the mat this weekend at the 2025 College Duals.

Iowa swimming and diving (4-2, 2-1) picked up a 151-149 conference win over Illinois (5-3, 0-3) last weekend, clinching victory on the final event of the day. Olivia Swalley continued her stellar season for the Hawkeyes, winning the 100m and 200m breaststroke events (1:02.50, 2:16.50), as well as the 200m IM (2:01.26). Other winners included Rachel Dildine in the 50m free (23.76), Josie Hood in the 200m fly (2:04.87), Annie Galvin in the 200m backstroke (2:02.63), Olivia Frantum in the 500m (5:00.67), and Alix O'Brien in the 1000m free (10:15.05).

Makayla Hughbanks won the 3m dive for Iowa with a 317.55 score and Geneva Pauly took home the 1m win, scoring 302.90.

The win puts Iowa back on the right side of .500 in conference and gives them some confidence and momentum as they turn towards championship season. They'll be back in the pool on January 31st when they travel to take on Rutgers and Nebraska (6-2, 1-2).

Iowa gymnastics (0-1, 0-1) narrowly fell to #9 Ohio State (2-2, 1-0) over the weekend, 196.275-195.200. Freshman Aurelie Tran continued her strong start to the season with a 9.900 routine on bars, earning her 2nd place in the event. She was also 2nd in the all-around, scoring 39.350. The reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Week has quickly become a key contributor for the Hawkeyes, buoying the teams as they await the season debuts for JerQuavia Henderson and Adeline Kenlin.

Other big scores from the Hawkeyes included Karina Munoz on vault scoring a 9.875 to earn 2nd, and Emily Erb's 9.875 on floor, which earned her a third-place finish.

The Hawks are putting up some solid results, but it's hard to gauge this group's ceiling without seeing their two best athletes compete. Hopefully, Kenlin and Henderson are back in the next few weeks to provide a chance to see this team at its best. The foundation shown so far is impressive and the addition of two All-Americans gives the team a ton of potential.

They'll be back on the mat on Sunday against Minnesota (3-0, 1-0) (2:00, BTN+).

Hawkeye tennis (1-0) shut out Illinois State (0-2) 7-0 to pick up the win in their opening match last weekend. The Hawks won in straight sets on all six courts and added the doubles point for good measure. Daianne Hayashida picked up the win on the #1 court 6-3, 6-3, and Terezea Dejnozkova won 6-3, 6-2 on the #2 court.

It's early in the season, but a sweep is the best-case scenario for the Hawkeyes. They've got a few weeks before conference play starts, but they'll be looking to continue the early-season momentum when they take on Kentucky (2-0) on January 24th.