Three Hawk freshmen show promise for the men’s cross-country team.

By Adam Hensley
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Three fresh Hawkeye faces have been turning some heads during their first two men’s cross-country meets.

Freshmen Ian Eklin, Bailey Hesse-Withbroe, and Daniel Soto gave Hawkeye cross-country fans a glimpse of the program’s future, one that seems promising.

Heading into the third meet of the season, the Hawkeyes aim to build on their recent success. Iowa placed second at the Illinois State Invitational. While junior Ben Anderson and senior Anthony Gregorio finished as the top Hawkeyes, Eklin, Hesse-Withbroe, and Soto all finished in the top 50.

Take into account that eight teams and 82 runners were in the meet, that’s not bad. The three were also the only Hawkeye true freshmen (out of 14) to compete at the Illinois State Invitational.

Hesse-Withbroe placed 30th, Soto 39th, and Eklin 47th.

“It was pretty cool to get that Iowa jersey and have that across my chest,” Soto said.

Hesse-Withbroe agreed.

“It was really special; I’ll always remember that race,” he said. “It was challenging, 8,000 meters compared to 5,000 meters. I think it was a good first step in my career.”

The week before, in the Hawkeye Early Bird Invitational, Eklin finished third, Hesse-Withbroe 17th, and Soto 18th. In that meet, the three ran unattached, scoring no points for the Hawkeyes but still turned heads.

After the Early Bird, head coach Layne Anderson believed that the freshmen stole the show.

This early success should not come as a surprise to Hawk fans; all three runners thrived in high school.

An all-state selection his junior and senior seasons in Minnesota, Hesse-Withbroe was also named all-conference three times. Fellow Minnesotan Eklin placed right behind him in the 2014 state meet; Hesse-Withbroe finished ninth, and Eklin finished 10th.

“Layne was the first Division-I coach to reach out to me,” Eklin said, noting that this was a major factor in his college choice.

“Ian and Bailey both came from very good programs,” Layne Anderson said. “Programs that have a history of sending guys to college who do very well.”

Hesse-Withbroe’s Stillwater High and Eklin’s Wayzata High battled it out in the state meet in 2014. Wayzata came out on top, and Stillwater placed third.

The two runners went from competing against each other in high school to become teammates at Iowa.

“I think we brought out the best in each other competing,” Hesse-Withbroe said. “It’s fun being able to compete with him on my side now.”

“I’ve known Bailey since my freshman year,” Eklin said. “We ended up being good friends, and I talked with him with the recruiting process.”

Soto, a West Des Moines native, won the state meet in 2014. He also ran in the 2014 Footlocker Cross-Country Championships.

“You could argue that [Soto] was the best guy last fall in the state of Iowa,” Anderson said. “They were all guys that were among the best in their state.”

He believes that Hesse-Withbroe, Eklin, and Soto are all motivated.

“All three are competitive guys,” he said. “If you ask any of the three, they would all tell you they want to move into those top-five scoring spots. You want guys who are driven to be successful.”

Not only driven for greatness, these runners are young, proud Hawkeyes.

“It was cool representing not only this area but the entire state,” Soto said.

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