Olympic Spotlight: Records Keep Coming for Hawkeye Track

It's always a bit jarring when spring sports begin to pop up on the Hawkeye athletic schedule. Still in the middle of winter, even if the rumors of 60-degree days this week are to be believed, Hawkeye baseball, softball, and golf are all scheduled to play this week.

It's a stark reminder of how fast the college season goes and how much we ask of our student-athletes. Lucky for Hawkeye fans, Iowa athletes are more than up to the task. Let's jump right in.

Another weekend of competition meant another chance for Iowa track and field to break some records and they did not disappoint. The Hawks were split up this week, competing in the New Mexico Collegiate Classic and the Meyo Invitational, and put up strong performances at each.

The events in New Mexico started Friday night when Chloe Larsen improved on her career-best 600m time, running a 1:28.31, good for an event win, the 2nd-fastest time in the Big Ten this season, and the 3rd-fastest time in Iowa history. Lia Love ran the conference's fastest 200m race of the season, finishing in 23.39 (4th in school history). Tionna Tobias also had a standout performance, with a 6.41m long jump, just one-hundredth of a meter behind the school record.

The Hawkeyes swept the podium in the men's 600m race, won by Josh Pugh, and followed closely by Phillip Jefferson and James Fingalsen. The women claimed the 1st, 2nd, and 4th spots in their 600m race, with Gabby Cortez following Larsen and Jaiden Itson finishing 4th.

Saturday's competition at the Meyo Invitational was highlighted by a career run from Alli Bookin-Nosbisch, who set a new school record in the 800m, besting her own record with a 2:04.20. Alli's twin sister Grace notched Iowa's 8th-fastest 800m time, 2:08.09. Back in New Mexico, Larsen put up the 10th-fastest 400m time (54.20) and was part of the 4x400m team that ran Iowa's 6th-fastest time ever, along with Paige Magee, Audrey Biermann, and Nylah Perry.

It continues to be a banner season for a very talented Hawkeye track and field squad. Last weekend marked the third straight week that the Hawkeyes set a school record. Bookin-Nosbisch is the third different Hawkeye to set a program record this year, which only highlights the depth of talent across the group. The Hawkeyes are consistently rewriting the record books in the short, medium, and long-distance runs, not to mention their prowess in field events. It's been a theme over the past few years as Coach Woody has lifted this program to a new level.

Iowa seems to rounding into form at the right time as they continue to prepare for the indoor championships at the end of February, where they'll expect to compete for multiple conference titles. The Hawks now hold top 20 rankings in a host of events on the men's and women's side.

Iowa will again split its squad next weekend, sending athletes to compete in Arkansas, Texas, and Chicago.

Iowa gymnastics fell to #26 Nebraska 196.500 - 195.725 last week, as the Hawkeyes continue to battle injuries. All-American Adeline Kenlin remains sidelined with an injury, but the younger Hawkeyes stepped up again last week to show that the future also looks bright for the program.

Emily Erb and Bailey Libby each posted career best results on the floor, with Erb's 9.950 winning the event title and Libby's 9.900 earning her second place. Karina Munoz placed 2nd on vault where she is ranked 13th in the Big Ten, scoring a 9.850. Eva Volpe continued her impressive freshman season, improving her career-best all-around score with a 39.200 mark, buoyed by a career-best 9.850 on the floor, and Ella Castellanos improved her career-best score on the beam, scoring a 9.725.

The Hawkeyes are doing all they can, but it would be unreasonable to expect them to shrug off the loss of a pair of All-American talents. Still, the Hawkeyes continue to show improvement and are getting strong performances from their underclassmen.

Of all the career highs from last weekend's meet, only Castellanos is an upperclassman. Kenlin's injury may put a ceiling on the overall team's performance for the season, but it's giving the youngest Hawkeyes an opportunity to learn by doing and the early returns of that approach are clearly positive.

Iowa's next meet is scheduled for Friday when they'll travel to take on Rutgers (5:00 PM CT, BIG+).

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The young Hawkeye swim and dive team continued their impressive season last weekend in a quad meet that took place at Purdue. Freshman Olivia Swalley improved her 100m breaststroke time to 1:01.02, good for the 2nd-fastest all-time at Iowa and enough to win the event Friday. Swalley followed up a strong Friday performance with a 2nd-place finish in the 400IM, touching home in 4:16.59. Jenna Kerr, also a freshman, placed 2nd in the 500m free race in 4:46.09. The Hawkeyes set eight other season or career-bests on the weekend.

The overall team results were a bit disappointing for the Hawkeyes, who fell to all three opponents at the meet, but Swalley continues to put together one of the more impressive freshman campaigns in Hawkeye sports. Iowa is continuing to grow the program and establish a new status quo after their COVID adversity and standouts like Swalley, Kerr, and sophomore Scarlet Martin, are showing how strong the Hawks can be in the pool. They'll be back in action starting February 21st when they compete in the Big Ten Championships (BIG+).

Iowa Tennis (1-5) dropped a pair of matches 4-1 last weekend, falling to Kansas State (4-1) and Denver (4-2). Against the Wildcats, Iowa captured the doubles point off of wins from Jessica Matthews and Vipasha Mehra on court two and Barbora Pokorna and Pia Kranholdt on court three, but weren't able to claim any points during the singles matches. Against Denver, the Hawks' lone point came from Porkorna on court five during the singles portion of the meet.

The Hawkeyes are closer than the scores have indicated over the past few weeks, losing many sets in tiebreaks or being forced to suspend matches due to the meet being clinched. They'll look to find a way over the hump next weekend when they host meets against Memphis (3-2) and Northern Illinois (2-2).