The Hawkeyes faced tough competition across the board last weekend, taking on a top-10 team in baseball and competing in the Big Ten Championships in track and field and rowing.
Let's take a closer look.
Olympic Spotlight: Track and Field
Iowa track and field competed in the Big Ten Championship meet last weekend, finishing 7th on the men's side and 8th on the women's side. Against stiff competition, the Hawkeyes came away with eight medals, a school record, and a Big Ten Champion.
Kalen Walker put together a highlight weekend for the Hawks, winning then men's 100m title in a wire-to-wire win (10.17).
Walker, an Iowa native and fifth-year senior, is the Hawkeyes' first Big Ten champion in the event since 2013. He is one of three Hawkeyes to ever win the event (Justin Austin - 2013, Tim Dwight - 1999, George Page - 1995, 1996).
Iowa saw another historic performance from Pauline Bikembo, who set a school record in the women's heptathlon. She finished 5th in the event with 5,722 points. Carlee Rochford finished 10th in the event, scoring Iowa's 8th-highest mark in school history with 5,319 points.
Iowa also earned 2nd place finishes from Kai Graves-Blanks in the men's 110m hurdles (13.51, 7th in Iowa history), Mike Stein in the men's javelin (77.41m), and both the men's (Landon Fontenot, Tyrese Miller, Terrick Johnson, Zidane Brown) and women's (Alivia Williams, Damaris Mutunga, Olicia Lucas, Chioma Nwachukwu) 4x400m relay teams. The men finished in 3:04.63 and the women finished in 3:31.54 (4th all-time).
Daniela Wamokpego finished 3rd in the women's triple jump with a 13.36m mark that tied for 2nd in school history, Maria Arboleda was 3rd in the women's high jump (1.81m) and Lizzy Korczak earned bronze in the javelin (55.25m).
The men's 4x100m relay team of Jaylin Holmes, Walker, Joe Stein, and Brown finished 4th, running Iowa's 4th-best time in school history (39.13).
Head coach Joey Woody mentioned multiple unfortunate occurrences, including disqualifications from both the women's 4x100m relay and 400m groups, yet the Hawkeyes still came away with a conference champion, a school record, and nearly double-digit medals.
It's just another reminder that the floor for this team has continued to rise. The Hawkeyes qualified three runners in the men's 400m final and Ryan Johnson had an "off day" in the hammer throw and still finished 4th. There are so many impressive athletes on the team that on any given weekend, it's hard to predict which Hawkeye will set the next school record or come away with the next gold medal.
The Hawkeyes can find reasons for satisfaction and motivation in the weekend's performance. There's clearly still room to improve, but the Hawkeyes are seeing results against some of the best in the country. They'll have a week off before the NCAA First Rounds begin on May 28th in College Station, Texas.
Baseball
Iowa baseball (32-20-1, 21-9 Big Ten) was swept by #5 Oregon (41-13, 22-8 Big Ten) last weekend, falling 10-0, 9-6, and 13-4 in the final series of the regular season. Iowa came into the weekend with a shot at claiming the Big Ten regular season title, but the three losses saw them drop to 3rd in the final conference standings. While the weekend, and the past few weeks, have been frustrating, the third-place finish still represents a significant overachievement from the Hawks' preseason expectations.
In the first game of the series, the Hawkeyes were simply outplayed by one of the best teams in the country. The Hawks managed just two hits to the Ducks eleven and had only five baserunners in the game. Oregon took the lead in the top of the first and broke the game open with a grand slam in the fourth as part of a five-run inning. Cade Obermueller was knocked around a bit on the mound, but did manage to notch his 100th strikeout of the season, becoming just the fifth Hawk to ever reach that milestone.
Friday was Iowa's best opportunity to come away with a win, but a late comeback from Oregon proved too much to overcome. The Hawks pulled ahead 3-1 in third when Gable Mitchell, Caleb Wulf, and Miles Risley each drove in a run.
The Hawks added another in the fourth to push the lead to 4-1 and after the Ducks pulled one back in the fifth, Iowa went back-to-back with solo homers from Wulf and Daniel Rogers, increasing their lead to 6-2.
Iowa held the lead into the seventh inning before the Oregon bats roared to life, scoring five runs to take a 7-6 lead. They would add two more in the ninth, to win 9-6. The game set a record for attendance at Duane Banks Field, but ultimately Iowa couldn't send those fans home with a win.
The Hawks took another early lead in the series finale, scoring once in the bottom of the first, but Oregon's offense was again unrelenting, tying the game in the third and pulling ahead 3-1 in the fourth. Oregon would add another in the fifth and four more in the sixth, breaking the game open. The Hawks began to rally in the late innings, cutting the lead to 8-4 after eight innings, but five ninth-inning runs from the Ducks slammed the door on any hopes for a late victory.
It wasn't all bad news for the Hawkeyes last weekend, as seven Hawks were recognized as All-Big Ten performers. Obermuller, Aaron Savary, and Reese Moore each earned 1st-team All-Conference honors, Reece Beuter and Daniel Rogers earned 2nd-team honors, and Ben Wilmes earned 3rd-team honors. Jaixen Frost was named to the All-Freshman team for his strong rookie performance.
Overall, it was another frustrating weekend for the Hawkeyes, who fell to 1-8-1 in their past ten games. The team looked overmatched against two top-10 opponents, sticking with each in spurts, but unable to sustain the level needed to earn a win.
Still, the Hawkeyes' strong performance during the bulk of the regular season has earned them the #3-seed in the Big Ten's new conference tournament setup. You can read more about setup, and Iowa's path here, but the tough finish to the season means Iowa will likely need a run all the way to a Big Ten Title if they want to qualify for the NCAA tournament.
They'll have a chance to take a big first step on Wednesday against Rutgers (28-27, 15-15 Big Ten).
Rowing
Hawkeye rowing competed in the Big Ten Championships last weekend, which included seven ranked opponents. The Hawks finished 9th at the event, but had three boats (2V8, 1V4, 2V4) outperform their seeds in the finals.
Iowa's 1V4 boat, 4V8 boat, and 3V8 boat all finished second in their respective finals races. Iowa's 2V8 boat finished 3rd, while the 1V8, 3V4 and 2V4 boats finished 4th.
Orla Cuffe was named First-Team All-Big Ten for the Hawkeyes.
