By Adam Hensley
Hawkeye cross-country bounced back on Oct. 1 at the Regional Preview; the men won their meet in dominating fashion, while the women placed third in what proved to be a tight competition for the top-three teams.
Adam Jones, a graduate student for the Hawkeyes who competed unattached, placed first overall.
“I was really excited to be out here with the guys,” Jones said. “I work with these guys in practice every day but never actually get to race with them.”
Jones does not have any eligibility left in cross-country, but he will be eligible for both the indoor and outdoor seasons in track and field.
Following his lead, the next seven spots were all runners clad in black and gold. Daniel Soto came in second behind Jones, crossing the line in 25:23.2. Anthony Gregorio, Luke Sampson, Ian Eklin, Bailey Hesse-Withbroe, Daniel Gardarsson, and Daniel Murphy rounded out the top-eight spots.
“With so few teams here, it was kind of hard to get into that competitive mindset,” Soto said. “The plan was just go out and run as a pack, and grind it out toward the end and see what we could do. We really dropped the hammer down in the last 3K.”
The men competed against South Dakota and Western Illinois in an unusual three-team competition.
With all of Iowa’s top seven runners placing in the top seven spots, Iowa scored a perfect 15 points.
Tess Wilberding (21:30.3) finished second in the women’s competition, behind Northern Illinois’ Hope Schmelzle.
“I was pretty happy with the result,” Wilberding said. “The time wasn’t really what I wanted, but I did my plan, and I was happy with that. The plan was just to get out front and relax in the beginning, stay behind the front pack, and just go after it in the end.”
Wilberding was in the top group for the entire meet, slowly moving her way up and picking off runners as the finish came closer.
Also in the top-10, Andrea Shine finished in 21:51.7, the second time Shine has finished in the top-10 this season.
“On the women’s side, I saw a really competitive group,” Iowa head coach Randy Hasenbank said. “Tess continues to do very well, Shine looked great, and Lauren Opatrny is starting to find her stride.”
Opatrny placed right behind Shine at 11th. The next two runners, Julie Hollensbe and Claire Dupuis, came in at 21st and 22nd.
Illinois won the women’s meet, scoring 50 points. South Dakota finished second, with 58. Northern Illinois, Northwestern, and Nebraska-Omaha also competed on the women’s side.
Also worth noting, senior Ben Anderson, junior Michael Melchert, and sophomore Madison Waymire headlined a group of runners who did not compete for the Hawkeyes. Hasenbank said earlier in the week that he’d sit a few runners because he preferred they would train instead of race one more time before championship season arrives.
The Hawkeyes will next compete on Oct. 15 at the Pre-Nationals in Terre Haute, Indiana.