The Iowa men’s and women’s track and field program will race into action for the first time in the 2021-22 season on Saturday.

Iowa will play host to the Wisconsin and Drake men’s and women’s squads, in addition to the Northern Illinois women, for the annual Jimmy Grant Invitational. The meet will be held at the Iowa Recreation Building’s Hawkeye Indoor Track Facility. Throwing events kick off the action, starting at 10 a.m.

The Hawkeye men come into the season as reigning Big Ten champions after outscoring runner-up Michigan by 33 team points. 

The Hawkeyes’ success extended out-of-conference during the outdoor season, earning a 12th place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships with 19 team points. Three athletes were named first-team All-Americans following the 2020-21 outdoor season.

The men’s roster is highlighted by three-time All-American Jamal Britt. The senior from Las Vegas is Iowa’s record-holder in the indoor 60-meter hurdles with a 7.62-second time.

The Iowa women finished third at the Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships last season, tying the best result in team history.

Woody thinks the Hawkeye women bring back a lot of talent from a year ago.

“We believe this is the deepest women’s team across all event areas we’ve had since I’ve been the head coach of the program,” he said. “… We return a Big Ten Champion, multiple Big Ten medalists and point scorers and a great group of young athletes who will be immediate contributors to our total team effort at the Big Ten Championships.”

Of the eight medalists Iowa placed at last year’s Big Ten Indoor Championships meet, six returned for the 2021-22 season.

Senior Mallory King, a second-team All-American in the 800-meter, came back for the 2021-22 season, alongside reigning Big Ten Champion Paige Magee in the 60-meter hurdles.

King, a sixth-year senior, currently stands at second place all-time in Hawkeye history in the indoor 800-meters, with a time of two minutes and 5.12 seconds. Former Hawkeye Bethany Preska set the current record in 2011 with a time of 2:05.01.

Hawkeye coaches and athletes alike see this season as another opportunity for championships.

“My teammates, both the men and the women, look even better than we did last year, even after we were Big Ten champs, and the girls just barely missed out,” Britt said. “… Everybody’s laser focused on their personal and team goals this year.”

Britt also said the Jimmy Grant Invitational is an opportunity for the Hawkeyes to compete hard and set benchmarks for the rest of the season.

“This meet is really about seeing where everybody’s at, in terms of competition,” Britt said.

Iowa director of track and field Joey Woody echoed Britt’s words, but also stressed that long term success is more important than Saturday’s performance.

“This opening weekend will be a great indicator of where we are at [as a program],” he said. “… The key is to stay healthy and continue to develop our athletes throughout the season.”

After the invitational, the Hawkeyes will have almost a month off over the University of Iowa’s winter break. Iowa will return to action on Jan. 14 at the Hawkeye Invitational in Iowa City.