The Iowa track and field team capped an impressive weekend showing in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on April 7 at LSU’s Battle on the Bayou. The men and the women both placed third with scores of 140 points. The team also set 13 personal bests and two school records.
Some familiar faces had outstanding days. The Hawkeyes swept the 400 meters, with Mar’Yea Harris and Briana Guillory both taking first at the invitational. Guillory’s mark of 52.55 seconds is a personal best and sixth in the country.
“Getting Briana back out there in the 400 meters and putting up a great time for where she is at right now in the season is great,” Iowa Director of Track and Field Joey Woody told Hawkeye Sports. “She is ranked really high nationally. She blew the field away, and that is a great sign.”
Harris’ time of 45.71 seconds moved him to third in the country.
“It’s good to know that I can open up with a 45.71,” Harris told Hawkeye Sports. “It’s a big confidence booster knowing I opened with one of my fastest times. This puts me in a really good position to get a good lane at regionals.”
The Hawkeye throwers had another monster weekend.
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Laulauga Tausaga set two Iowa school records. In the discus, she threw a mark of 59.86 meters, which is good enough for fifth in the country. Later in the day, her 16.31-meter shot put throw set another record; the previous mark had stood since 1992.
Reno Tuufuli won the discus throw on the men’s side with a throw of 58.8 meters. He also placed second in the shot put with a throw of 18.25 meters.
Erika Hammond also had a personal best in the shot put, throwing a mark of 14.66 meters.
Jahisha Thomas won the long jump with a personal best mark of 6.44 meters. That mark is second in school history and also the second best in the country.
“I am happy,” she told Hawkeye Sports. “This is a great start. To open up with a personal best is exciting. It’s exciting to know what’s to come and what can be better because there is still room to improve. Nothing is perfect, so this is a good foundation to start on.”
Chris Douglas won the 400-meter hurdles with a personal best time of 50.9 seconds. That time is 10th in the country.
Also in the field, Andy Jatis won the pole vault, clearing 4.9 meters.
As far as Iowa’s sprint relays, both the men and the women placed third in the 4×100.
“We have some things we have to keep building on, but Reno had another great day in the discus. Jatis had a great day today and went close to his PR in the pole vault,” Woody told Hawkeye Sports. “On the track, Douglas had a big PR in the 400-meter hurdles and showed that he can be competitive at the national level in the 400 hurdles and 110 hurdles, and Mar’Yea ran away from the field in the final 100 meters in the 400 meters. I think he has a lot more in the tank.”
