From the athletes’ performances to the atmosphere, the Larry Wieczorek Invitational was one to remember.
By Andrew Donlan
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The Larry Wieczorek Invitational (Jan. 19-20) was intriguing on paper. There were 32 professionals coming (including Olympians) as well as other top-tier college teams. When it came to life, however, the event became something that no one could have predicted.
The invitational, the namesake of former Iowa track and field coach Larry Wieczorek, was filled with must-watch competition from start to finish. It was the type of sporting event that could turn non-track and field fans into just that, Wieczorek said.
“It was entertaining. I think one of the things you want to do as an athlete in college is put on a show,” he said. “You want people to come and have fun, and I think the people who came today had a good time.”
Wieczorek was a track and field athlete himself at Iowa in the 1960s. In July 2014,Wieczorek gave up his title of director of track and field at Iowa to current director Joey Woody.
The event lived up to the hype and more, burnishing Woody’s dream and honoring Wieczorek’s name at the same time.
“I’m definitely blessed,” Woody said, “I couldn’t have scripted it better. The way it all happened — with the women’s 4×400 relays and the men’s 4×400 relays to finish the way they did — you can’t script that.”
The 4×400 relays were a spectacle, and the results were kind to Iowa.
“It’s my dream, it’s my vision, and everyone supported it,” Woody said. “I can’t say enough about that.”
First, in the women’s 4×400, the women fell behind when there was a mishap on the baton exchange between two of the runners. Briana Guillory made up for the time lost in her split, finishing in just 51.034 seconds. Thanks to Guillory, Iowa prevailed.
In the men’s 4×400 relays, there was the same level of drama. The Hawkeye men handed the baton to All-American Mar’yea Harris, trailing LSU and the Tiger Olympians, and it stayed liked that for most of Harris’ split. On the last curve, Harris accelerated, passing both runners and taking home first for the Iowa men. He ran his split in just 45.59 seconds.
Guillory and Harris may have been heroes for their relay teams, but it wasn’t their lone accomplishment on the day.
Guillory set a personal best time in the 400 meters and was only edged by an Olympian, Georganne Moline. Guillory’s time of 52.95 seconds is currently first in the country.
Harris also competed in the 400 meters, running it in 46.50 seconds, putting him seventh in the world for this year. He just barely lost to two professionals in the event — Fred Kerley and A.J. Bailey.
“Personally, I’ve always looked up to those guys,” Harris said. “It means a lot to me to show that I’m able to compete with the best.”
The invitational further proved that the Iowa track and field team is on the way up. Although Woody is at the helm now, a lot of credit still needs to be paid to Wieczorek.
“I’ve always been interested in making track and field spectator-friendly, but it’s not always presented that way,” Wieczorek said. “Tonight, it was.”
The next meet for Iowa will be the Black and Gold Premier at the Recreation Building on Saturday.