By Adam Hensley and Connor Sindberg
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The Iowa men’s and women’s track teams pleased their coaches at the Alex Wilson Invitational in South Bend, Indiana, on Feb. 20.

Joey Woody, the Iowa director of track & field, liked his teams’ performances in the non-scored meet.

“Even though we brought a small group, this is probably one of the best meets we’ve had in the history of Iowa,” he said in a release. “This meet gives us great momentum and great excitement across our whole team going into the Big Ten Championships next week.”

On the men’s side, the middle-distance group stood out for the second meet in a row.

During the Feb. 12-13 Iowa State Classic, senior Will Teubel ran a season-best time. On Feb. 20, he won the 800 meters with his best time at Iowa (1:47.74), the second best in school history.

“Will is a competitor, and we knew he had it in him because he’s been training side-by-side with teammates Carter Lilly and Pavlo Hutsalyuk,” Woody said in a release.

Hutsalyuk finished fourth in the 800, running a personal best of 1:48.97. That was good enough to put him third all-time at Iowa.

“That was an unbelievable performance for a freshman,” Woody said in a release. “He has improved from the beginning of the year to now, taking off over a second from last meet and having another [personal record] from the week before.”

Two sprinters came away with time that ranked in the top seven at Iowa.

Vinnie Saucer Jr. won the 60 meters (6.75), and Christian Brissett followed in second (6.78). Saucer’s time ties for fifth in school history, and Brissett’s time ranks seventh.

Brissett also finished second in the 200 meters (21.43), putting him 10th at Iowa in that event.

Iowa’s 1,600-meter relay ran the fourth-fastest time in program history. Mitch Wolff, Brendan Thompson, Jared Ganschow, and Mar’yea Harris hit 3:07.58 and finished third.

Harris, Iowa’s anchor, continued to impress observers in his fast split.

“Our 4×400 was impressive,” Woody said in a release. “Mar’yea split 45.1 on the anchor. That was an extreme highlight for our team. They executed well and kept fighting all the way through. Even though they didn’t win, they beat some good teams, and this sets them up well next week.”

In the field events, Reno Tuufuli placed third, throwing for a college-best distance of 60-3.25 in the shot put, elevating him to sixth in Hawkeye history.

That distance puts him at ninth in the Big Ten.

“Reno had a big meet,” Woody said in a release. “He had four [personal records] out of the six throws and ended with a one-meter improvement on his personal best. All of a sudden, that puts him up there as one of the best throwers in the history of our program and one of the best in the conference.”

Freshmen Christian Douglas’ 8.06 finish in the 60-meter hurdles (10th all-time at Iowa) and DeJuan Frye’s 48.22 time in the 400 were both personal bests.

The women’s team only competed in three events, the 60-meter hurdles, long jump, and 400 meters.

Sophomore Jahisha Thomas finished with a personal best in the 60-meter hurdle preliminaries (8.50). She improved in the finals, finishing with a time of 8.46 and is now in sixth place on Iowa’s all-time list. Thomas also competed in the long jump, finishing with a jump of 18-11.75.

Woody was impressed with the versatility Thomas showed competing in numerous events.

“She was tired by the time she reached the hurdle finals, so I was proud of her for the way she came back and competed,” Woody said in a release. “She didn’t have the best technical race, but she fought hard at the end and got a personal best. There’s no doubt in my mind that she’s going to continue to put up big performances next week.”

To conclude the events for the women, sophomore sprinter Sheridan Champe finished in eighth with a time of 57.60 in the 400 meters.

Iowa will next compete in the Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships in Geneva, Ohio, on Feb. 26-27.