The Iowa track and field teams is set to compete in the Larry Wieczorek Invitational at the Recreation Building this weekend. The meet is the second competition for the Hawkeyes of the indoor season, and those attending are sure to make this meet more intriguing.
Compared with last weekend’s Hawkeye Invitational, which featured Iowa Central Community College, Iowa State, and South Dakota, this meet’s slate is much more glamorous. Representatives from Arizona, Minnesota, Florida State, LSU, Kansas State, Wisconsin, Virginia, and Iowa State will compete.
“We still have some athletes who didn’t even compete this weekend,” Director of Track and Field Coach Woody said, “We’re just trying to make sure that they’re ready to go next week. I’m excited to see how this meet is going to go.”
The invitational will not just be host to a slew of top talent from the college world. There will also be 32 professional track and field athletes competing, including world champions and Olympians.
“For a college track and field meet, this is unprecedented,” Woody told Hawkeyesports. “I’ve never seen that many professional athletes at one event during the indoor season.”
It’s a rare sporting event, considering the mixture of top-tier college athletes and professionals. On Saturday, some of the athletes will play the part of fans when they’re not competing. After all, a lot of the undergraduate athletes want to be track and field professionals in the future.
“I’m just excited about the competition; I know there are a lot of good teams coming,” Chris Douglas said, “Also, I know Aries Merritt is coming, the world record holder. I won’t be able to compete against him, but it sure will be fun to watch.”
Merritt is the world record holder in the 110-meter hurdles. On Saturday, he will compete in the 60-meter hurdles. He also was a gold medalist in the 2012 Olympic games for the 110-meter hurdles in London.
There will be a slew of noteworthy names competing on Saturday, but some may be particularly familiar to the home crowd. Former Hawkeyes Aaron Mallett, Kineke Alexander, Troy Doris, and Erik Sowinski are scheduled to show up on Saturday.
The current Hawkeyes will also get a chance to show off their abilities. The men and women both got off to an impressive start last weekend, setting many personal records in their respective events.
The throwers for Iowa put on a show, with Reno Tuufuli posting a mark of 18.65 meters in the shot put (11th in the country) and Laulauga Tausaga throwing 15.0 meters in the same event (third all-time at Iowa).
Assistant coach Eric Werskey, who leads the throwing program, wants the squad to be more complete than just those two by the season’s end.
“We’ve got the heavy hitters — Tausaga and Tuufuli,” he said. “But I really think the focus for me this year is adding depth to this team, and I’ve seen a lot of other athletes taking steps forward.”