The Iowa women’s track and field team did not accomplish what it ultimately hoped for at the NCAA Qualifier held Saturday in Ames.

The Hawkeyes sent 10 athletes whose times and jumps were close to NCAA qualifying standards.

The meet — informally dubbed the Last Chance Meet — gave the runners one more shot at automatically qualifying for the 2010 indoor championship.

Iowa coach Layne Anderson said the weekend did not put any of his women in a significantly better position for nationals, but there were still some highlights for the Hawkeyes.

Junior Bethany Praska provisionally qualified for the championships in the 800 meters and earned third-all time at Iowa with a time of 2:08. Junior Karessa Farley ran 8:32 in the 60-meter hurdles finals — earning her second place at the meet and a season-best finish.

However, she did not directly qualify for nationals at the Last Chance Meet — something she accomplished at the same meet in 2009.

“I think we accomplished some things and improved some things,” Anderson said. “We showed [the women] that we had faith in them going into that meet. We wanted them to know we believe in them, and, hopefully, by taking them to that meet, they realized that.”

— by Michèle Danno