By Andrew Donlan
The Iowa track and field team will host the Black and Gold Premier on Saturday, with optimism throughout the squad clearly on the upswing.
The Hawkeyes’ third meet of the indoor season will start at noon in the Recreation Building; it is the last of three-straight home meets for the Hawkeyes.
It will be tough for the third meet to raise expectations any higher. The two previous meets have been immensely successful, and last weekend’s meet, the Larry Wieczorek Invitational, was as captivating as it could possibly have been.
“I’m hoping that people hear about this and other people in Iowa City and the surrounding areas want to come and be a part of it,” Wieczorek, the former director of track and field at Iowa, said.
The Iowa men were ranked 32nd in the preseason rankings, the women 34th. After last weekend’s invitational, those numbers have been improved to 22nd and 27th.
“I’m really excited where we’re at right now,” Iowa Director of Track and Field Joey Woody said. “The atmosphere of the meet brought everybody alive. This is pretty early for the performances we’re seeing.”
Iowa’s success is widespread, but some individuals have been particularly fantastic. Briana Guillory, who was responsible for the Iowa women’s 4×400-relay victory, was named the Big Ten Track Athlete of the Week.
“Briana is phenomenal,” Woody said. “After what Briana did this weekend, I can assure you that we will be one of the teams at the national level that will compete for a top-10 spot.”
The Hawkeyes have 12 athletes in the NCAA’s top 10 in their events: Guillory is ninth in the 200 meters, first in the 400; Willy Dougherty is fifth in the heptathlon; Mar’yea Harris is eighth in the 400; Brittany Brown is eighth in the 200; Jenny Kimbro is eighth in the pentathlon; Chris Douglas is 10th in the 60-meter hurdles, and the 4×400 men’s and women’s relay teams are fifth and 10th.
The weight throw will begin today in the Hawkeye Tennis & Recreation Complex, but the rest of the events will take place on Saturday in the Recreation Building.
The throwers have been just as impressive as the runners for Iowa, with Laulauga Tausaga breaking records in the shot put in each of the last two competitions. She first moved from sixth to third all-time at Iowa with a throw of 15 meters at the Hawkeye Invitational. Then she shattered the mark with a throw of 15.87 meters at the Wieczorek Invitational, moving her into first all-time at Iowa.
On the men’s side, junior Reno Tuufuli was a first-team outdoor All-American last year and is a top Big Ten thrower this year.
The Black and Gold Premier has the potential to be a letdown after such an emotional and star-packed meet last weekend, but for some Hawkeyes, not so fast. Antonio Woodward, for example, beat two-time gold medalist Vernon Norwood in his section of the 200-meters on Jan. 19.