Elexis Guster
Track and field doesn’t earn the same amount of recognition on campus as basketball and softball do. It should, because the women’s track team has been excellent, largely because of junior sprinter Elexis Guster.
Her stellar 2016 indoor season and continued excellence in the outdoor season has helped Iowa become a contender in the Big Ten; that alone should warrant consideration for Female Athlete of the Year.
The Atlanta native earned second-team All-American honors during the indoor season for the second time in her Hawkeye career. In the final event of the indoor season, she anchored a 1,600-meter relay to ninth place and placed 16th in 400 meters at NCAA Championships.
Guster’s highlight of the indoor season came at the indoor Big Ten Championships, when she claimed the 400-meter championship running a college-best time of 52.36, a time second all-time in Hawk history. Also at the Big Ten meet, she anchored a school record-setting 1,600-meter relay to third place.
Guster continued her excellent junior season to the outdoor season. She earned Big Ten Track Athlete of the Week after a pair of two career-best performances in the 200 meters and 400 meters at the April 9 Jim Click Shootout.
She also claimed a title in the 200 meters at the April 23 Musco Twilight and backed up that performance with a winning sprint medley title at the April 28-30 Drake Relays.
If she is able to continue her award-winning season in the upcoming Big Ten and NCAA Championships, Guster should at least be in the conversation for Female Athlete of the Year.
— by Connor Sindberg
Mollie Drenth
While Ally Disterhoft had an amazing season for the women’s basketball team, perhaps the award should have gone to one of the most underrated athletes on campus.
Iowa gymnast Mollie Drenth did not come into this season with much buzz surrounding her, but after the season she had, including numerous top-five meet finishes and an All-American honor, there’s buzz now.
Drenth was Iowa’s first NCAA Championship qualifier since 2011 and had Iowa’s first All-American honors in the sport since 2004. In fact, Drenth totaled an impressive 19 individual titles this past season including eight on the beam and another seven in the all-around.
Coming into this season, the Iowa gymnastics program was not known for being a powerhouse. However, after everything Drenth had accomplished, the GymHawks will look forward to one of the best recruiting classes in program history and finally becoming the gymnastic powerhouse that they have longed to be.
Drenth will come back next season and will try to become the GymHawks’ first back-to-back All-American in program history. With the experience she has garnered and another off-season of refining her craft, she will without a doubt capture the attention of the members of the Hawkeye Nation sleeping on the GymHawks.
— by Ricardo Ascencio