The recent Battle on the Bayou at LSU was an all around success for the Iowa track and field team. A slew of athletes had impressive performances, proving the team’s ability to compete among the nation’s best.
Despite a highly competitive group of colleges competing at the invitational, Iowa came away with some major wins.
Briana Guillory and Mar’Yea Harris have been two of the Hawkeyes’ best for a while now, and their performances on April 7 in Baton Rouge showed that there is no signs of them slowing down.
Guillory ran the 400 meters in 52.55 seconds to win the event. The time was a personal best and also puts her at sixth overall 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.”
Guillory now also ranks fifth all-time at Iowa in the 400.
“Winning to me isn’t just getting the fastest time at any meet during the season,” she said. “I’ll really feel like I won something later on if I get first- or second-team All-American. That’s when I’ll feel like I won something.”
Harris won the 400 as well, pairing with Guillory to sweep the event at LSU for the Hawkeyes. His time of 45.71 seconds is third in the nation, adding to an already terrific start to the outdoor season.
“A good start helps me with the rest of the season because it lets me know that I’m in good shape,” Harris said. “It makes me feel like I can run something fast at the end of the season.
“It meant a lot to perform that well at LSU, because it shows that I can compete with some of the best athletes in the country.”
Harris also helped Iowa’s 4×100 relay team place third with a time of 40.13 seconds. The team was barely edged by LSU (39.87 seconds) and Penn State (39.91 seconds). The team ran a time of 39.69 seconds at the Willie Williams Classic in Arizona earlier in the season.
Guillory and Harris helped both the men and the women place third at LSU with identical scores of 140 points.
“It feels good to be in the top three in the country,” Harris said. “It’s a confidence booster and reaffirms that I’m capable of doing great things.”
Harris’ performance also rubs off on the rest of the team.
“The team’s performance this past weekend was very smooth,” Guillory said. “When heavy hitters like Mar’Yea and Chris [Douglas] come out and run well right off the bat, it helps others perform to the best of their abilities as well.”
Douglas won the 400-meter hurdles with a personal best time of 50.9 seconds, which ranks 10th in the country.
