Iowa women’s track and field ties program record at Big Ten Championships
Iowa’s women’s track and field team finished in third place at the 2021 Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Iowa’s Paige Magee runs the second leg of the Women’s 4×400-meter relay premier. The relay team finished 6th during the Hawkeye B1G Invitational track meet at the University of Iowa Recreation Building on Saturday, Feb. 13 , 2021.
February 28, 2021
The Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships belong to the Hawkeyes in 2021, as Iowa’s men’s team produced a first-place finish on the three-day championship and the women’s team finished in third.
Prior to Saturday, Iowa men’s track and field hadn’t won the Big Ten Indoor Championships outright since 1929. The Hawkeyes did earn a share of the team title at the 1963 Big Ten Indoor Championships.
While the achievements of the men’s team certainly highlighted the Hawkeyes’ weekend in Geneva, Ohio, the women’s squad also made history.
The Hawkeye women’s 75-point, third-place showing is tied for the best in program history.
“On the women’s side, not everything went our way, but I feel really positive heading into the outdoor season,” Director of Iowa Track and Field Joey Woody said. “Our mission is to be the best program in the country and that starts with being the best program in the Big Ten. I’m excited about where we are but we have a long way to go. We have the right athletes and right coaching staff. We just have to keep building.”
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Among the individuals who placed in the meet over weekend were freshmen Paige Magee and Clare Pitcher.
Magee finished in first place on Saturday with a career-best 8.26 time in the women’s 60-meter hurdles. She is the second Hawkeye in program history to win a Big Ten title in the event.
In the women’s 600-meter, Pitcher finished third, posting a career-best mark of 1:29.96. The time is good for seventh in Iowa women’s track and field history.
Woody said Magee’s and Pitcher’s performances were encouraging and could set the tone for the team in the future.
“I think it speaks volumes to where the program is right now,” Woody said. “We’ve got some great veterans, especially when we get ready for the outdoor season. But when you look at having that many freshmen that can contribute right away, I think we’ve got a really big opportunity here over the next few years to really be, you know, really where the men are. I think we are about a year behind right now to where the men are, I think, aiming for championships this outdoor season.”
The Hawkeyes’ next appearance will come in Fayetteville, Arkansas, at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships March 12-13.
