Several Hawkeyes competed, and competed well, at the USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships at Drake Stadium in Des Moines during this past weekend.
The USA meet is unique in that it merges college and professional athletes, which means the competition is quite stiff.
Perhaps the most successful of the Hawkeyes was sophomore Laulauga Tausaga.
She entered the weekend having finished fourth at the NCAA Championships and hoped to ride that momentum. Tausaga did just that when she tossed a personal best 198-11 (60.65 meters) in the discus to take third place.
While Tausaga was the only Hawkeye to medal at the meet, she wasn’t the only one who set a personal record. Junior Briana Guillory set a school record in the 400 meters at 51.30, good enough for sixth place and a spot in the world’s top-20 times.
Senior Brittany Brown was the only other Hawkeye to reach the finals, making it in the 200. After placing only 14th in the NCAAs in the 200, Brown was determined to improve, and she did, hitting a school-record 23.08, good for fifth.
It was another good showing for the Hawkeye women, who were coming off a career finish at the NCAA meet. Their success in their last two meets are evidence of the team’s growing in national prominence.
“We’re on our way up,” Tausaga told Hawkeye Sports. “We have it in us to get more people to the national meets. We’ve grown so much this year. From my perspective on the throwers, we’re putting the work in. We’ve got our guns out.”
The Hawkeye men were also coming off of a pretty successful NCAA meet, and they hoped to carry on that momentum.
Thrower Reno Tuufuli had a successful NCAA meet, earning his second first-team All-American selection.
Unfortunately, the same good fortune was not on his side this past weekend; he failed to reach the finals in the discus, placing 10th at 196-1 (59.76 meters).
Mar’yea Harris was also coming off an All-American performance in the NCAA meet, only to be disqualified this past weekend.
Redshirt freshman Carter Lilly failed to make the finals, but he was able to set a personal record in the 800 meters in the preliminary round with a time of 1:47.10. He broke that mark in the semifinals at 1:46.95, but unfortunately, that wasn’t enough for him to qualify for the finals.
While no current Hawkeyes qualified for finals for the men, a former Hawkeye in the meet was able to win a medal.
Erik Sowinski, a 2012 graduate, ran the fastest time in the semifinals of the 800 and with a time of 1:47.76, placed third in the finals.
Next, Tausaga and Guillory will compete in the North America, Central America, and Caribbean Athletics Association meet in Toronto on Aug. 10-12.