The Iowa track and field team divided for various competitions this past weekend, competing at the Florida Relays in Gainesville, Florida, along with the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, California.

Florida Relays

Some members of the squad took their talents to Gainesville, where a number of Hawks notched personal records.

Sophomore Aaron Mallett recorded two personal bests at the event, with a time of 13.60 in the men’s 110-meter hurdles. His mark ranks second nationally and also on Iowa’s all-time list. The sophomore finished seventh in the 100-meter hurdles. He returned to the track to compete in the 400-meter hurdles, crossing the line in 51.56 to finish 16th.

The squad had five athletes compete in the 800-meter race. Junior Will Teubel (1:49.99) led the Hawkeyes in the men’s race with a 24th-place finish followed by freshmen Carter Lilly (33rd; 1:50.81) and Ryan Dorman (57th; 1:54.74). The women’s side featured sophomore Katharina Trost (22nd; 2:10.63) and junior Kaitlyn Nelson (33rd; 2:12.13).

Junior MonTayla Holder earned a season-best time of 58.29 in the women’s 400-meter hurdles and finished ninth. Freshman Jahisha Thomas snagged an 11th-place finish in the long jump with a personal best of 5.82, 10th on the school’s list. Thomas also competed in the women’s 100-meter hurdles, in which she finished 29th with a time of 13.83.

Sophomore Elexis Guster competed in the women’s 400 for the first time in the outdoor season. She clocked in at 59.91 and finished 29th.

The highlight from the two-day event came from the women’s 400-meter relay. That event featured Holder, Guster, junior Lake Kwaza, and sophomore Brittany Brown, which clocked a season-best time of 44.94 and finished sixth.

Another impressive relay mark came from Mallett, and juniors Mitch Wolff, Brendan Thompson, and Teubel. They finished fourth with a time of 3:09.46.

“The women’s 400-meter relay had a great time that will be ranked high in the NCAA and the Big Ten,” Iowa Director of Track and Field Joey Woody said in a release. “The men’s 1,600-meter relay competed very well with a season-best performance and a time that should qualify for the NCAA first round.”

Stanford Invitational

The distance and mid-distance athletes traveled to Palo Alto to compete at the fierce Stanford Invitational.

Freshman Marta Bote Gonzalez competed in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, finishing second in her section and crossing the finish line with a personal best of 10:23.15. Bote Gonzalez topped the previous school record in that event as well.

Senior Kevin Lewis competed in the men’s 10,000-meter race and finished with a time of 28:59.62. Lewis earned 25th place.

Senior Ben Witt finished with a time of 14:25.99 in the 5,000 meter. Senior Shannon Maser competed in the women’s 1,500-meter race and crossed the line at 4:45.38.

“Overall, this was a great meet for us as a program,” Woody said in a release. “We continued to see many personal bests, all-time top-10 performances and NCAA qualifying marks.”

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