The Iowa cross-country team is preparing for its third go at the Woody Greeno Invitational in Lincoln, Nebraska. The meet is one Iowa has generally succeeded at in the past, finishing in the top-three overall in both the men’s and women’s race previously.

Generally, the meet has consisted of several Big Ten teams racing alongside other smaller Division I schools. The meet had a significant jump in competition from 2017 to 2018, with several major Big Ten programs competing in the meet, including Minnesota and Michigan.

This year is expected to be even more competitive, with the meet gaining prestige as more quality programs join.

The Hawkeye men’s team has finished both first and second at the meet, after being edged last year by Minnesota. In 2017, Iowa finished with three runners in the top five and four in the top ten, including then-sophomore Nate Mylenek winning the race.

Brandon Cooley is the only other top finisher from that race still with the Hawkeyes. He finished seventh overall in the race.

In 2018 however, the competition became much stiffer for Iowa. Only Mylenek and Daniel Soto were able to finish in the top 10 for Iowa as Minnesota dominated the top of the leaderboard.

The times for last year’s race were much quicker, as well, as the top runners ran at just under a five-minute pace. This contrasts the previous year, where the winner Mylenek ran at a mile pace of 5:11. With this year’s race containing more Big Ten programs than in the past, the pace should continue to get even quicker.

The women’s team has placed third at both meets as they could not keep up with the likes of South Dakota and Michigan. In the 2017 meet, Iowa placed just three athletes in the top 20; Andrea Shine and Madison Waymire were the only Hawkeye top-10 finishers.

In the 2018 meet, Shine took first by dropped 15 seconds from her previous race.

Megan Schott was the only other top-20 Hawkeye finisher — 16th overall in her second race with Iowa.

Looking ahead to the weekend, the women’s team should be able to improve upon its third-place finish in previous seasons. In the past, a lack of depth cost the team points. But with many returning athletes and several strong new ones, Iowa should have more depth at the front and should be able to stay closer together as a group.

Not having last year’s champion, Shine, will be difficult, but the overall depth of the team should be able to compensate.

On the men’s side, Iowa will really push to lower its point total from last season.

Winning the meet over another strong Big Ten team may be difficult, but with most of last year’s squad back plus the addition of Luke Sampson returning from an injury, Iowa should be able to put up a lower point total from that of prior years.

Mylenek will be in contention to win this year’s race, too, after a win and a top-10 finish in the previous two seasons. Look for a similar place but fewer overall points for Iowa, as the strong senior class will help Iowa improve upon last season.

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