The women’s track and field hopes get back on a positive note at the Meyo Invitational.
By Connor Sindberg
The Hawkeyes travel to the 29th-annual Meyo Invitational in South Bend, Indiana, to compete today and Saturday. With plenty of competition, Hawkeye Director of Track and Field Joey Woody knows that this weekend’s meet will serve as good preparation for the championship events coming up.
“It’s nice because a lot of our athletes can double back since it’s a two-day meet, and they’re able to run an event on Fridayand kind of simulate what it would be like to make final at the Big Ten Championships,” he said.
The Hawkeyes will be led by 2014 and 2015 outdoor 400-meter Big Ten champion Elexis Guster,.
And this weekend, she hopes to maintain momentum by improving on a week-to-week basis.
“I definitely want to get my 400 time and capture a spot at going to nationals, and I know in doing that I will have to continue to run faster,” she said. “My goal this weekend is to go out and run hard and just be better than I was the week before.”
Another Hawkeye who hopes to continue to make positive strides is sophomore Jahisha Thomas. At the Razorback Invitational in the long jump, she climbed to second on Iowa’s all-time list with a leap of 19-9.5.
After a stellar performance from Thomas last weekend, Woody hopes to see more of that.
“To come out and to have a personal best in the hurdles and long jump, she’s really starting put some things together,” he said. “I’m looking forward to seeing her compete again this weekend.”
The final piece of the puzzle to score more team points, is counting on senior sprinter Lake Kwaza, who is currently ranked second in the 60 meters. Kwazafinished second at the Big Four Duals and first at the Iowa Dual, but she had a minor setback at the Razorback Invitational, finishing ninth.
“Lake continues to improve,”Woody said. “I think there’s a big performance in there from Lake, it’s only a matter of it all coming together at the right time.”
He also noted this weekend’s will get the runners prepared to compete for the championship season.
“It’s one of the top meets in the country; if you compete well here, it certainly will give you confidence in the meets ahead,” he said.