A final season to remember
May 11, 2021
Iowa’s Laulauga Tausaga winds up to throw during the women’s shot put at the 2019 Drake Relays in Des Moines, IA, on Friday, April 26, 2019. Tausaga earned 2nd with a distance of 16.36m.
After spending nearly six months away from team facilities, Tausaga and her teammates were together again in Iowa City beginning last August. But without any indoor eligibility remaining, Tausaga was, at times, left behind in the fall. She didn’t travel to away meets, but did place first in the shot put at the Hawkeye B1G Invite while competing unattached.
Tausaga has only competed in four meets so far this outdoor season, but her 60.81-meter mark in the discus ranks first nationally, and her 17.94-meter shot put throw at the North Florida B1G Invitational is tied for fifth.
Twenty-four months will have passed since Tausaga won gold in the discus by the time the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Championships are held.
Tausaga returned for this outdoor season to shatter the records she’s already set. She returned to do what she couldn’t last year — win gold at the conference meet being held May 14-16, and then repeat as champion at NCAAs, which begin June 9.
After the pursuit of another national title in the discus ends, Tausaga will shift her focus to competing in Eugene, Oregon, at the Trials, which run June 18-27. She already exceeds the standard (58 meters) to qualify for that event and hopes to make it for the shot put as well.
When her Hawkeye career is over, Tausaga will still live and train in Iowa City while pursuing a professional throwing career. Tausaga already knows she will probably need to pick up a job separate from track to support herself while pursuing a career in a sport where sponsorships can be difficult to find.
Tausaga wants to be remembered. For an athlete as accomplished as she is, that doesn’t seem like a difficult request. But at the same time, Tausaga — competitive as always — remains focused on outdoing what she’s already done on the track, even if the recognition isn’t there.
Tausaga is an underappreciated athlete in an overlooked sport. She doesn’t face the flurry of fans Garza or Lee do when they compete in front of the Hawkeye faithful.
Most Hawkeye fans don’t travel to the Recreation Building or Cretzmeyer Track to watch Tausaga throw on weekends. Track meets are not something the university builds entire weekends around like football games in Kinnick Stadium or wrestling duals at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Tausaga knows that’s not going to change. But she also grows tired of being tagged on Twitter in order to be thrown into a discussion she belongs in already. To Tausaga, there’s a time to be humble, yet also a time to know your worth.
“Are [fans] going to remember me the same way they are going to remember these other athletes like Megan Gustafson or Spencer Lee?” Tausaga said. “They probably won’t. And that’s probably going to be the thing that hurts me. But I have to understand that my coaches know, my teammates know, and I know who I am.”
So, beyond one of the premier Hawkeye athletes in recent memory, who is “Lagi” Tausaga?
“She’s a rock star not only athletically but as a person too,” Werskey said. “Huge heart, goes out of her way for people. Anyone she discusses things with or interacts with, they walk away with, ‘You know what, that’s a very special person.’”
And, knowing Tausaga, they’ll probably walk away with a grin, too.
She was bound to have said something funny.
