Hawkeyes look for gold in final home meet of the season

Iowa women’s team moves up in rankings and continues to fight the competition.

Laulaga+Tausaga+shoulders+the+shotput+during+the+Larry+Wieczorek+Invitational+meet+in+Iowa+City%2C+Iowa%3B+Saturday+January+20%2C+2018.+Laulaga+finished+fifth+overall+in+the+meet.+

Paxton Corey

Laulaga Tausaga shoulders the shotput during the Larry Wieczorek Invitational meet in Iowa City, Iowa; Saturday January 20, 2018. Laulaga finished fifth overall in the meet.

Sydney Becker, Sports Reporter

The Hawkeye women’s track and field team will host its final home meet of the season tonight and Saturday at the Black and Gold Premier.

Teams competing against the Hawkeyes are Boston College, Drake, Eastern Illinois, Loyola, Marquette, and South Florida.

RELATED: Iowa women’s track and field shows improvement

After the Wieczorek Invitational last week, the women’s team moved up five spots to No. 32 in the country.

Last week in the shot put, all four Hawkeyes hit personal bests, along with three all-time marks in Iowa history.

Laulauga Tausaga hit mark No. 1 (16.70 meters), followed by No. 2 Nia Britt (16.19), and Erika Hammond in the No. 3 position (15.63).

“I know that they’re not fully satisfied; they look at what they threw outdoors last year and compare more to that than what they threw indoors last year,” Iowa Director of Track and Field Joey Woody said. “Top three all-time, just shows where our throws program is headed. That was fun to see our girls compete.”

Tausaga has replaced her previous weight-throw record each meet of the season so far, and she will try to continue that streak this weekend. She sits at 21.3 meters with the current record, as well as taking the shot-put record with her throw at the Wieczorek Invitational.

Briana Guillory in the 400 meters (53.67) and Jenny Kimbro in the 60-meter hurdles (8.39) lead the Big Ten in their events.

Anytime you’re in the top 10 all-time in the history of our program is pretty impressive.

— Joey Woody

Kimbro also took second place in all-time ranks at Iowa with her time in the 60-meter hurdles.

“Anytime you’re in the top 10 all-time in the history of our program is pretty impressive,” Woody said. “[Kimbro] is a beast; she’s a big-time competitor. Going out and leading off our women’s 4×400, she had a fantastic split. She’s fun to watch, and she’s going to continue to get better every week.”

Five others hold some of the top spots in the Big Ten. Aubrianna Lantrip holds third place in the high jump (1.76 meters), and Amanda Carty has third place in the triple jump (21.84 meters). Guillory in the 600 meters (1:30.92) and Tausaga in the shot put (16.70) and the weight throw (21.30) sit in fourth.

Three of the eight Hawkeye track and field members on the ranked list of NCAA times this season come from the women’s team.

Guillory has the second time in the 400 meters, and Tausaga has 10th in the weight throw and 13th in the shot put. Guillory has progressed in her track career every season at Iowa, and she wants to continue the trend in her senior year.

“It hasn’t hit me that every meet I have this year will be my last,” Guillory said.

The weight throw will start at 4 p.m. today at the Hawkeye Tennis & Recreation Complex. Saturday’s events will begin at noon in the Rec Building with the high jump.