The Iowa track and field team will open the indoor season on Saturday with the annual Black and Gold Intrasquad competition in the Recreation Building.
Women:
The evening will be a great opportunity for the women’s side. The short-distance runners will get their chance to shine in the first meet of the season, while the long-distance runners will continue their midseason form carrying over from last month’s conclusion of the cross-country season.
Head coach Layne Anderson believes the distance runners will contribute as leaders early on in the track and field season.
“Madison [Waymire] and Tess [Wilberding] will be leaders,” Anderson said. “It will be the same people you saw on the cross-country course and hopefully some new [short-distance] runners as well.”
Anderson knows that Saturday night’s meet only serves as preparation. He wants the team to be ready for the season, but he realizes that this is the first competition for most of the athletes.
“We certainly want to get the ladies as well prepared as possible,” Anderson said. “I want to be ready to be competitive.”
Men:
Hoping to build on last season, the men take to the track for a fresh start. While this meet is an exhibition event, it will showcase Iowa’s talent.
“It’s a good barometer for some of the younger guys who didn’t race in cross-country or some of the middle-distance guys,” Anderson said. “[We want to] get as many of the guys as well-prepared over the course of the season heading into the conference meet.”
Last season at the indoor Big Ten meet, Iowa placed seventh. The Hawkeyes improved as the season went on and finished third at the outdoor conference meet. Iowa aims to build on that success and come back stronger this season.
Sophomore Michael Melchert concluded his cross-country season by running a time of 23:57.5, 10th best in school history, at the conference championship meet. He, as well as his coaches, hope to keep momentum going.
“I look forward to having a solid indoor season while placing in the Big Ten [meet] and having that carry to outdoor [season],” Melchert said.
Anderson said Melchert would be one of the runners to watch, not only Saturday, but for the entire season.
Freshman and fitness levels
With this being the first competition, the freshmen will find out where they stand. The Hawkeyes have 37 freshmen, 27 on the men’s team and 10 on the women’s.
With plenty of freshmen coming into Saturday’s meet as their first as Hawkeyes, fans can expectSaturday’s the meet to be competitive.
Anderson believes this is a good opportunity for the newcomers to get warmed up and to also know their pace level for upcoming competitions.
“We’re going to try to control the pace, and try to give everyone a chance, and get a good indicator of everyone’s fitness,” he said.