The Iowa track and field squads were scheduled to compete May 3 in the Messersmith Invitational at Northern Iowa. The meet was canceled because of inclement weather in Cedar Falls.

This meet was slated as more of a tune up before the Big Ten championships, which will take place May 10-12 in Columbus, Ohio.

Head coach Layne Anderson and his women’s team will attempt to have a better performance at the outdoor meet than they did in the indoor championships in February. The team finished in 11th out of 11 teams at the meet and crowned no individual champions.

The men’s squad had a better finish than the women — it took seventh place in the meet, and senior Jordan Mullen captured first place in the 60-meter hurdles.

However, there is reason to be optimistic for the Hawks, especially senior Majesty Tutson, who was the lone first-place finisher in the Drake Relays on April 25-27. Tutson’s throw gave assistant coach Scott Cappos reason to believe Tutson will finish near the top of the Big Ten standings.

“This is setting her up for success at major events; she will be one of the top throwers at the Big Ten championships,” Cappos said in release.

Numerous members of the Black and Gold finished very close to the top of events in the extremely competitive field, despite the lack of first-place finishes in Des Moines.

Sophomore Gabe Hull (men’s discus) and junior Adrianne Alexia (women’s 800 meters) each wpm second place.