The Daily Iowan names Laulauga Tausaga Co-Female Athlete of the Year
The accomplished Hawkeye thrower shares the honor with Iowa women’s basketball player Caitlin Clark.
Iowa’s Laulauga Tausaga watches her throw during the 18th annual Musco Twilight at Francis X. Cretzmeyer Track on Saturday, April 22, 2017. Iowa’s men and women’s track and field finished first overall in the Musco Twilight with a 237.5 and 203 respectively.
June 30, 2021
Laulauga Tausaga’s Hawkeye career was supposed to end in 2020.
After the pandemic cut short what was initially thought to be her final campaign as a thrower for the Iowa track and field team last year, Tausaga came back to Iowa City for one final outdoor season in the Black and Gold. And in the process, she continued to shine in the throwing ring.
For winning an unprecedented fourth career Big Ten outdoor title, finishing runner-up nationally in the discus, and earning her fourth United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Athlete of the Year honor, The Daily Iowan’s sports section named Tausaga the 2020-21 Hawkeye sports Co-Female Athlete of the Year.
Tausaga shares the honor with Iowa women’s basketball’s Caitlin Clark, who was also named the DI’s newcomer of the year.
RELATED: The Daily Iowan names Caitlin Clark Co-Female Athlete and Newcomer of the Year
When Tausaga’s first attempt at a senior season was canceled because of concerns over COVID-19, the Spring Valley, California, native thought her Iowa career might have been over.
Shortly after the remainder of the 2020 season was called off right before the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, Tausaga found out she, along with other spring sport athletes, had been granted an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA. So, despite the 2019-20 season ending abruptly, Tausaga had one final outdoor season to look forward to.
And she took advantage of it.
Tausaga, who graduated this spring, competed unattached for the Hawkeyes during the 2020-21 indoor season, winning the shot put at the Hawkeye B1G Invite. Then the outdoor season got underway, and the right-handed thrower started breaking records again.
Over the course of the outdoor season, Tausaga — known as “Lagi” to her teammates and coaches — added a fourth Big Ten discus title to her resume, becoming the first Hawkeye to win four individual conference championships.
Tausaga followed her conference performance up with a first-place finish in the shot put and a second-place discus performance at the NCAA West Regionals.
All this was good enough for Tausaga to be named USTFCCCA Midwest Region Female Field Athlete of the Year. Tausaga was also recognized by the USTFCCCA after the 2019 indoor and outdoor seasons, and again after the 2020 indoor season.
At the NCAA Outdoor Championships, Tausaga — who owns the Iowa women’s track and field program records in four throwing events — couldn’t defend her NCAA discus title from 2019. Despite a career-best 63.53 mark in the discus, Tausaga finished second to Arizona State’s Jorinde Van Klinken (65.01 meters, meet record).
Tausaga also finished sixth in the shot put (17.29 meters) at NCAAs, closing out her final meet as a Hawkeye with two first-team All-American honors.
“Lagi has had an amazing career and continues to make history every time she steps into the ring,” Iowa director of track and field Joey Woody said in a release following the NCAA Outdoor Championships. “She had the best performance of her career today, but unfortunately it just wasn’t enough to defend her title against a great competitor that had to set a meet record to beat her. Lagi will forever go down as one of the all-time greatest athletes to ever wear an Iowa uniform in any sport.”