By Adam Hensley
Iowa cross-country started the season off in stellar fashion on Sept. 2 at the annual Hawkeye Invitational, with the women winning their section of the meet and the men finishing second.
Tess Wilberding won the women’s 3,000 meters (10:20.4), and Michael Melchert (sixth place) broke the men’s 6,000-meter school record with a time of 18:12.8.
Coach Randy Hasenbank, in his first meet for the Hawkeyes, was pleased with how both teams performed but said he believes each have a much higher ceiling than what was displayed on Sept. 2.
“We’re nowhere near our best, but we had a competitive spirit, which I think is very important,” he said. “I asked the team to get out there and put on a good show.”
In the women’s race, the Hawkeyes dominated. Iowa recorded three
runners in the top 10.
Iowa State’s Grace Gibbons came in behind Wilberding, followed by Iowa’s Madison Waymire (10:21.9).
“I thought it was a good season-opener,” Wilberding said. “I didn’t go in expecting to win or anything. I just wanted to see where I was at physically.”
Last year at the Hawkeye Invitational, Wilberding finished 15th. This year, she shaved more than 20 seconds off her time.
Rounding out the top 20 for the Hawkeyes was Lauren Opatrny (ninth), Andrea Shine (14th), and Claire Dupuis (20th).
On the men’s side, Melchert’s record-setting day led the way for the Hawkeyes, who finished only behind Iowa State.
“I just wanted to put a hard effort in and just see where my fitness was at,” Melchert said. “It felt good. I pushed a little bit on the last 1,000 meters because there was two Iowa State guys [close by].”
Cyclone Toby Hardwick won the 6,000. Following him was Drake’s Reed Fischer and Creighton’s Garett Kenyon.
Melchert’s time broke Eric MacTaggart’s previous record of 18:18 in 2005 by almost six seconds. The closest any Iowa runner came to that record recently was former cross-country and track star Kevin Lewis, who was off by 15 seconds in 2013.
Since 2009, no runner came within 23 seconds of the record.
For the rest of the Hawkeye men in the top 20, senior Ben Anderson placed 10th, sophomores Ian Eklin and Daniel Soto finished 13th and 15th, respectively, freshman Luke Sampson placed 16th, and senior Anthony Gregorio was 19th.
Hasenbank noted that while the Hawkeyes had a solid group in the top 20, they have the potential to get that pack higher up in the ranks.
“I think the men looked a little tired,” Hasenbank said. “They weren’t quite as sharp as they might be. I think there’s a long way to go until we are ready to make any big statements. They’re training pretty well and consistently.”
Being a 6,000-meter run, Hasenbank noted the difficulties of assessing an athlete’s level of success on a shorter race. He stressed that over-evaluating in a situation like this can also happen, especially since the team’s distances will climb to 8,000 and 10,000 meters over the course of this season.
The Hawkeyes do not have to wait long for their next opportunity to compete; Iowa will travel to Norman, Illinois, on Friday for the Illinois State meet.
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