There was a full slate of Hawkeye Olympic ports last week, with winter sports teams wrapping up their season and the spring sports teams picking up steam. The Hawkeyes found success across the board so we've got lots to cover this week.

Let's dive right in.

Iowa's swim and dive team competed in the National Invitational Championship last weekend, an NIT-like meet for those just outside of NCAA championship qualification, and finished 9th out of 65 teams, including multiple top-three individual finishes.

The Hawkeyes wasted no time getting on the board at the meet, with freshman Olivia Swalley taking home the 200m IM title on Day 1. Her time, 1:58.47, ranks 2nd-fastest all-time at Iowa. Fellow freshman Jenna Kerr finished 4th in the 500m freestyle on Day 1, posting Iowa's 4th-fastest time ever, 4:45.15.

Kerr and Swalley continued their big performances on Day 2 of competition, each notching top-3 finishes. Kerr posted Iowa's 5th-fastest 200m free time (1:47.56) in the prelims and then came back in the finals and improved on her own time (1:47.02), finishing 2nd overall. Swalley placed 3rd in the 400m IM, finishing in 4:15.35.

Kennedy Gilbertson put together a strong performance in the 100m backstroke, finishing 8th, and the trio of Gilbertson, Kerr, and Swalley, along with Sabina Kupcova finished 5th in the 200m medley relay.

Day 3 was another strong showing for the Hawks, with Gilbertson finishing 5th in the 200m backstroke (1:57.19, 4th all-time at Iowa), Kerr finishing 7th in the 1650m free (16:34.23, 5th all-time at Iowa) and 8th in the 1000m free (10:02.23, 7th all-time at Iowa), and the 400m freestyle relay team finishing 4th (3:20.53). The relay team was made up of the same quartet as the 200m medley relay.

The 2023-24 season has to be considered a general success for Hawkeye swimming. They constantly put up top-ten times and saw two freshmen excel nationally to end the year. Swimming is different from many other college sports in the postseason, with athletes needing to meet certain benchmarks to qualify for A, B, or C championships.

The NIC consisted of swimmers who achieved B qualifying times but were not invited to the NCAA championships, so it wasn't as if the event was an exhibition or full of lesser competition. Seeing the youngest Hawkeyes excel among strong competition is a great sign of what's coming for this group. This program is till in its infancy after being briefly cut, and it's hard to see the arrow pointing anywhere but way up as the Hawks look to the future.

Congratulations to the entire Hawkeye swimming and diving team and coach Nathan Mundt on a great 2023-24 season.

Iowa track and field moved outdoors, but that did nothing to slow down their record-setting ways. Competing at the USF Alumni Invite, Mike Stein set a school record in the first event of the day, tossing a javelin 79.26m for the Hawkeyes. Stein already owned the record, but his huge throw improved his career-best mark and won him the event. The throw would have placed 3rd at last year's outdoor championships.

Elizabeth Korczak followed suit, winning the women's javelin event with the 2nd-best throw in school history (50.62m). Sean Smith tossed Iowa's 4th-best hammer throw ever (63.94m) and Austin Busch's 63.72 was good for 5th all-time at Iowa. Maud Zeffou-Poaty posted the 6th-best long jump in school history (6.10m) to close out the top-tens for Day 1. Iowa also took home event titles in the women's shot put thanks to Kat Moody and the 400m hurdles thanks to Mariel Bruxvoort.

Day 2 was more strong from the Hawkeyes, led by Kalen Walker's school record 100m dash. Walker finished in 10.09 to win the event and set a new program best. He improved his personal best by almost a tenth of a second in the race and beat Iowa's previous record by a hundredth of a second. The Hawks also won the women's 100m race, with Lia Love (11.15) and Holly Duax (11.37) finishing first and second in the race.

The women's 4x100m team of Love, Duax, Julia Pattison, and Alexandria Edison finished in 44.54s at the meet, the 8th-best time in Iowa history. Iowa also won the men's 100m hurdles, with Gratt Reed taking home the win in 13.67 seconds.

The Hawks showed no signs of adjustment moving out into the elements to begin the outdoor season. It was more of what we've seen all year, with multiple athletes setting records and top-10 marks popping up across the roster. The group continues to be a deep, talented bunch that will threaten to rewrite the record books every time they compete. They'll next compete on March 22nd and 23rd at the Clyde Hart Classic.

Iowa gymnastics competed in the Kidney Care Women’s Gymnastics Championships, posting a season-high 196.525 to finish 3rd. The meet was won by #19 Georgia, with #23 Maryland coming in 2nd. Iowa finished ahead of Pittsburgh and Talladega.

The Hawkeyes were again led by Karina Munoz, who posted scores of 9.900+ on three events. She put up a 39.575 in the all-around competition, finishing 2nd. Munoz tied for the vault title with a 9.900 and finished 2nd on bars and beam with matching 9.925s. Ilka Juk tied Munoz for 2nd place on beam with a 9.925 of her own, while Emily Erb and Bailey Libby each put up 9.900+ scores on floor. Erb's 9.925 earned her 2nd place at the event, while Libby's 9.900 was her 4th time reaching the 9.900 mark this season.

One other notable score from the event came from Kendall Laplante who posted her first score since tearing her Achilles last year, sticking an exhibition vault to earn a 9.775. For a team that has dealt with so much bad luck with injuries, you can see how cathartic it was for them to see one of their own make it back to competition and stick their first run.

The circumstances are different, but the Hawkeye gymnastics team is seeing a similar trend as the swimmers, with their best production coming from some of their youngest members. Munoz is only a sophomore, Eva Volpe, a freshman, competed in the all-around all season, and Erb and Libby are also underclassmen.

The team dealt with incredible adversity for most of the season and has turned that into opportunity and growth. They've been able to improve each week and seem to be peaking at the perfect time with the Big Ten conference championships next week. The competition begins Saturday, March 23rd and will be broadcast on BTN.

Iowa softball (12-10) suffered a loss to St. Mary's (17-9) to start the week, but bounced back with four straight victories, two each over Pacific (6-10) and Sacramento State (18-10), to close out their non-conference schedule.

Against St. Mary's, Iowa fell behind 2-0 early but tied the game in the top of the 3rd inning when Rylie Moss and Jena Young smacked back-to-back doubles. Sammy Diaz drove in Young to tie the game at two. From there, pitching reigned until the bottom of the 6th, when the Gaels broke through for three runs, ultimately winning the game 5-2.

The Hawkeyes bounced back quickly after their Wednesday loss, sweeping a Friday doubleheader against Pacific and Sacramento State. The Hawks beat Pacific 5-0 in Game 1 and Sacramento State 1-0 in Game 2. Jalen Adams set down the first 11 batters she faced in Game 1 and the Hawkeyes took a 2-0 lead in the 3rd inning behind an RBI triple from Young and an RBI single from Soo-Jin Berry. Iowa tacked on one more in the 4th and Young put the game away with a two-run homer in the 7th to make the score 5-0.

In Game 2, Iowa scored their only run in the top of the first inning, a sacrifice fly off the bat of Grace Banes. From there, the pitchers dominated. Hawkeye freshman Jaylee Ojo pitched a complete game one-hit shutout.

Saturday was another doubleheader for the Hawkeyes, facing the same two teams, and Iowa pulled out two more wins, this time besting Pacific 10-1 and Sacramento State 6-1. Iowa's bats stepped up on Saturday, scoring early and often against Pacific. Banes drove in a run in the first and Berry drove in another to help the Hawks take a 3-0 lead after two.

Ojo was back on the mound for the Hawkeyes and didn't allow a hit for the first three innings, allowing just one in four innings while notching seven strikeouts. Young hit her second home run of the weekend in the 4th inning to break the game open and Iowa added three more to take a 7-0 lead. Iowa added three more in the 5th and came away with the run-rule win.

The Hawkeyes again took an early lead in the second game of the doubleheader, with Tory Bennett driving in a run in the 1st inning. Sacramento State tied the game in the 3rd, but Iowa responded in the 5th, plating three to take a 4-1 lead. Diaz's RBI double in the 6th pushed the lead to 6-1 and Jalen Adams did the rest on the mound to ensure the Hawkeye win.

The Hawkeyes dealt with struggles to start the week but they took care of business over the weekend and began to look like the team they were so excited about during media day earlier this month. The pitching staff is strong and the young hitters, namely Berry and Young, are beginning to produce.

Sammy Diaz has reached base in 18 straight games to drive the offense from the top of the lineup as well. It was a rocky non-conference season for Iowa, but they played their best ball at the end and are heading into conference season with all of their goals still in reach. They'll begin Big Ten play against Wisconsin (11-15) on March 22nd (5:00, BTN+)