It's not often you get a clear indication that a college program has reached a new level. Often progress is incremental, small improvements over time that are often so gradual you don't notice until looking back. For Hawkeye track and field, the 2025 indoor season has been one of the rare times when a team's improvement has been drastic and dramatic.

The Hawkeyes have been breaking school records all season and they did so again last week, this time in a major way. Let's take a closer look.

Iowa track and field put together another banner weekend last week, setting two school records as they competed in Ames and New Mexico. The Hawkeyes started strong on Friday night as Austin Kresley improved his standing on Iowa's all-time list, running the 200m in 20.73s, an improvement over his previous career-best of more than a tenth of a second. The mark was 3rd best in the Hawkeye history.

The Hawks also saw PRs from Jaylin Holmes in the men's 200m (21.43), Alexandra Edison in the women's 200m (23.73), and Ali Frandsen in the women's 600m (1:32.66).

Saturday was a historic day for the Hawkeyes. In Albuquerque, The women's 4x400m relay team of Alivia Williams, Chioma Nwachukwu, Damaris Mutunga, and Olicia Lucas smashed the school record with a 3:30.42 time that ranks fifth in the country in the event. The group beat Iowa's previous school record by nearly two seconds, raising the bar for their event.

Back in Ames, Ryan Johnson improved his school-record weight throw mark, tossing a 24.15m throw that won the event title in Ames. The mark came on his last throw of the day and was his 2nd throw of more than 24.00m on the day. He now holds the 3rd-best throw in the NCAA this season.

Other top marks from Saturday's competition included Lillian Harden's 46.67 60m hurdle time (7th all-time at Iowa), Chioma Nwachukwu, Damaris Mutunga, and Alivia Williams each putting up top 10 marks in the women's 400m (4th, 5th, and 8th all-time for respectively), Wisdom Williams tossing the shot put 15.92 meters to claim the 5th spot on Iowa's all-time women's shot put list, and the men's 4x400 relay of Josh Pugh, Isaac Lewis, Terrick Johnson, and Zidane Brown, which ran the 5th-fastest time in school history, 3:05.31.

Competing against 15 programs in the top 25 in New Mexico, the 23rd-ranked Hawkeyes stepped up to meet the competition and put up some of their best performances of the season. As has been the case for years, the Hawkeyes saw big marks from upperclassmen and newcomers alike.

Even more indicative of the program's continued growth, the Hawkeyes are doing more than setting new school records—they're blowing past old marks. A two-second improvement in the women's 4x400 is a monster result, and Johnson's weight throw record is more than a meter and a half beyond what any Hawkeye has previously thrown. He's now reached the 24-meter mark multiple times this season. No other Hawkeye has ever broken 23 meters.

It takes time to level up a program, especially at a school without a storied history in the sport, but head coach Joey Woody and the Hawkeye track and field team have continually improved over the past few years and the impact of that growth is now being felt every week.

Iowa will split its squad across four meets next week, competing in Texas, Arkansas, Massechutes, and Ohio.

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Iowa Gymnastics (2-2, 2-2) picked up a conference win last weekend, besting Rutgers (11-4, 1-3) 195.975-194.450. The Hawks put together their most complete performance of the season, winning all four events and claiming the top three spots on the vault.

Karina Munoz was a star throughout, winning the vault, beam, and floor titles. Munoz claimed the win on vault with a 9.800, on beam with a season-best 9.850, and on floor with a 9.900.

Freshman Sydney Turner won the bars for Iowa, notching a career-high 9.925 mark. Aurelie Tran and Ilka Juk tied for 3rd in the event with matching 9.825 scores. Other high scores for the Hawkeyes included Adeline Kenlin and Haley Tyson scoring 9.825 on beam, and Tran and Hanna Castillo posting 9.875s on floor to tie for 2nd.

It wasn't the best performance score-wise for the Hawkeyes this season, but it was the first time they've won every event this year. Munoz put together her best performance of the year by far and the GymHawks continued to see strong contributions from their freshmen. Munoz is now ranked 21st nationally in the All-Around and Tran is close behind, ranked 28th. Iowa is ranked 18th nationally as a group on the vault.

Perhaps most encouraging, the Hawkeyes are showing that they can get big scores up and down their roster. One night it may be newcomers like Tran or Turner and the next it might be veterans like Munoz and Kenlin. Seeing your teammates put up big marks is contagious and the Hawkeyes have to love seeing the depth of strong performances so far this season. Having so many contributors helps to keep the pressure off of each individual as well, as the group knows their teammates can pick them up if they're not perfect in a rotation.

Iowa's next meet will be a quad meet, featuring Missouri (7-3, 1-2), Alabama (1-4, 0-4), and Illinois (4-4, 2-2). The meet is scheduled for February 14th.

Iowa softball got its 2025 season started last weekend, going 2-3 against stiff competition at the 2025 NFCA Leadoff Classic.

The Hawkeyes started their season with a 5-0 shutout over Kennesaw State (0-5). Jalen Adams was on the mound and pitched a gem for the Hawks, putting together a complete-game one-hit shutout to open the season. Tory Bennett was 2-4 in the game at the plate and Allyssa Ramos drove in two to power Iowa to a season-opening win.

In game two, the Hawks took on #5 Tennessee (5-1), falling 10-1 in five innings. The stiff step up in competition was tough for the Hawkeyes, but they stuck with the Vols for the first three innings, keeping the game tied at one. Tennessee took a 3-1 lead in the 4th inning and then broke the game open in the 5th, extending their lead to 10-1

Day two featured similar results for the Hawks, as they beat up on lesser competition before falling to a top-10 opponent. Iowa thrashed Marshall (1-4) 8-0 to start the day. Adams again pitched a complete game shutout and the combination of Bennett and Ramos was again productive at the plate. Bennett drove in three runs in the game and Ramos added two more. The Hawks jumped out to a five-run lead in the first inning and never looked back.

In the second game of the day, Iowa fell to #10 Texas Tech (5-1) 11-0. The Red Raiders jumped all over the Hawkeyes, pushing across seven runs in the first inning. Four more in the 2nd put the game out of reach early and the Hawkeyes weren't able to get anything going at the plate.

The final game of the weekend was the most entertaining, as the Hawkeyes battled #15 Missouri (4-1) to the final out before falling in a heartbreaker, 3-2. Freshman Talia Tretton earned her first career start and held the Tigers to just one run over 5.2 innings of work. Iowa took a 1-0 lead in the 2nd inning after a single from Desiree Rivera and a slew of Tiger miscues. Missouri evened the game in the 5th inning with a solo home run, but the Hawkeyes continued to push.

In the 7th, Jena Young drove in Brianna Johnson with a sac fly, giving Iowa a 2-1 lead and a great shot at their first ranked win of the season. The Hawks pushed the Tigers to their final out, but a throwing error and wild pitch allowed the Tigers to push across a pair of runs and steal a win.

Tatianna Roman was named to the All-Tournament team after going 6-12 with an RBI and two runs on the weekend.

Iowa softball did what they were "expected" to on paper over the weekend, but there's no doubt the Hawks will want Sunday's loss back. The team was streaky, as is to be expected early in the season, but had a chance at a great early win in the final game of the weekend. Of course, the season is long and the Hawkeyes will have many more opportunities for signature wins, so Iowa's response will be as telling as anything from the weekend.

They'll be back on the diamond on Friday when they take on Abilene Christian (0-5).

The Hawkeye tennis team (3-2) split a pair of matches last weekend, losing a 4-3 nailbiter to rival Iowa State (4-1) before rebounding to beat DePaul (4-3) 4-1. Against the Cyclones, Iowa dropped the doubles point but bounced back early in the singles competition. The Hawkeyes won on court 5 as Barbora Porkorna cruised 6-1, 6-3 and Tereza Dejnozkova earned a point for Iowa on court 2 6-3, 6-4. Iowa State pulled ahead again with wins on courts 1 and 4, bringing the entire match down to the result on court 3. Marisa Schmidt fought to a 3rd set tiebreak, but came up just short, giving the Cyclones the 4-3 win.

Iowa bounced back well on Sunday against DePaul, downing the Blue Demons 4-1. The Hawks dropped the doubles point, but rebounded to dominate the singles portion of the match. Dejnozkova won on court 1 7-5, 6-1 and Daianne Hayashida picked up a 6-1, 6-4 win on court 2 to give Iowa a lead they would not relinquish. Schmidt and Porkorna won on courts 3 and 4 respectively to clinch the match, stopping the matches on courts 5 and 6 in progress.

The Hawkeyes have been solid to start the season, but the loss to Iowa State will haunt them. Iowa battled and it came down to the final game in the final set, but came up just short. Still, they showed strong resiliency to bounce back within the same week for a convincing win.

Iowa has two ranked players with Dejnozkova ranked 76th nationally and Hayashida ranked 113th.

The team will next take the court on Friday when they travel to battle Memphis (1-7).