The Iowa women’s track and field team, minus some of the runners, will travel on Saturday to the Alex Wilson Invitational at Notre Dame, in South Bend, Indiana.
With the sprinters and long-distance runners staying home, Iowa Director of Track & Field Joey Woody will search for areas in which the Hawkeyes can score points. He is particularly intrigued by what the jumps and hurdles can bring to the table.
Tria Seawater-Simmons is a Hawk jumper who will try to flash her skills this weekend; the freshman has posted personal bests in the triple jump in every meet this season. She registered 38-2.75 at the Meyo Invitational on Feb. 6, at that time her college-best.
The Phoenix native topped that performance with a jump of 38-6.75 at the Iowa State Classic on Feb. 13, good for sixth-place on Iowa’s all-time list.
“Tria is an athlete we brought in as 40-foot triple jumper; we believe she has the tools to compete at this level and win championships,” Woody said. “She’s really young and learning a lot in that event. It’s only a matter of time before she puts up some big marks.”
Another jump-squad performer who has been excellent all season when healthy is sophomore Jahisha Thomas. The London native sat out the first three competitions with nagging injuries, but after posting two personal bests in the Jan. 29-30 Razorback Invitational, she’s been progressing.
“I think Jahisha is starting to make some progress; she’s been real consistent the last couple weeks,” Woody said. “She just hasn’t had that big breakthrough performance, but I think that’s just around the corner.”
Thomas has had one breakthrough performance in the long jump. She broke a school record set by Zinnia Miller in 2014 to place second at the Meyo Invitational. She also put in a solid performance at the Iowa State Classic, finishing with a time of 8.52 in the 60-meter hurdles.
The final event Woody is interested to see this weekend is the high jump, where graduate student Khanishah Williams has been reliable. She’s put in two top-five performances recently, finishing fourth at the Razorback Invitational and second at the Iowa State Classic.
The Burlington native did not compete last indoor season because of a knee surgery. Now that the 2014 outdoor high jump Big Ten champion is back healthy, Woody appreciates the experience and leaderships she brings to the team.
“Anytime you have an opportunity to have a Big Ten champion return that’s a big thing,” Woody said. “She’s battled coming off of knee surgery, to be able to come back and jump off a different leg and to have the courage to be willing to do something different is special.”
