The Iowa women’s track and field team will split up for the 40th-annual Jim Duncan Invitational in Des Moines and the Texas Invitational in Austin this weekend.

The team has been led by junior Elexis Guster, who earned Big Ten Track Athlete of the Week this week after a pair of first- and second-place finishes and two career-best performances at the April 9 Jim Click Shootout in Tucson, Arizona.

While collecting a first-place finish, Guster ran the third-fastest time in the nation this season in the 400 meters, clocking a college-best 51.85. She holds the team’s highest national ranking in any event so far this season, and she is the only Big Ten student-athlete to run under 52 seconds.

Guster’s day at the Jim Click was just getting started; she captured her second event title in the women’s 400-meter relay with a time of 44.41. She continued her day by collecting runner-up finishes in the 200 meters (23.38) and 1,600-meter relay (3:35.06). Her 200-meter time ranks third in the Big Ten and in school history.

Director of Track and Field Joey Woody was pleased with the work Guster put in at Arizona, and he expects her to improve in order to bring her best for the postseason events.

“We challenged Elexis in Arizona to get her ready for the Big Ten Championships,” Woody said. “She’s made her mark in the Big Ten, but she knows she needs to continue to improve to be a finalist at the NCAA Championships. That’s on her mind, and she’s determined to do that this year.”

Guster is the first Hawkeye to win the Big Ten Track weekly outdoor award since Betsy Flood in 2010.

Guster’s successful season has carried over team success in other events as well. Currently, the women are ranked at the top of Big Ten standings in four events: Lake Kwaza, 200 meters; Guster, 400 meters; MonTayla Holder, 400-meter hurdles; top team in the 4×400 relay.

All the success has Woody intrigued with where the program is at right now.

“It’s a good sign of where we are at as a program, but we have to protect our position in the Big Ten,” Woody said. “It’s better to start at the top and protect instead of being at the bottom and having to work your way up the standings.”

With four Big Ten contenders the Hawkeyes are looking for added scoring opportunities in other events. They must find a few more events were they can add points for postseason competition. Woody believes one area that is improving is in the 800-meter with junior runner Mahnee Watts.

“One of the really exciting marks [at the Stanford Invitaional] was Mahnee in the 800,” he said. “She’s been training at an extremely high level. She had a great 600 in the indoor season, and that’s one of the reasons why she’s been able to run really strong in the 800.”

With Watts providing a spark and possibly joining her teammates at the top of Big Ten the Hawkeyes could be contenders for Big Ten Championships come postseason time.

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