Iowa track and field qualified nine individual events and two relays for the 2022 NCAA Indoor Championships this weekend.

The qualifying Hawkeyes will compete at the Birmingham CrossPlex in Birmingham, Alabama, beginning at 11 a.m. Friday on ESPN3. Iowa set a program record with its 11 total entries to the NCAA Championships.

Iowa director of track and field Joey Woody emphasized the importance of sending a large group of athletes to nationals.

“One of our goals each year is to send a big group to NCAAs, so it feels like more of a team event,” he said. “It’s good to see the progression of our team, not only on the Big Ten level, but on a national scale. I feel really good about where we’re at as a program, and I think we have a great opportunity to be one of the top scoring teams in the country at the end of the weekend.”

At the Big Ten Championships in Geneva, Ohio, the Hawkeye women qualified one event for the national tournament — the 4×400 relay. The quartet of Mariel Bruxvoort, Tesa Roberts, Payton Wensel, and senior Mallory King is seeded eighth at the national championships.

The Hawkeye men’s program grabbed its second consecutive indoor conference title at the Big Ten Championships and qualified 10 events for nationals.

Woody said he was proud of how the men’s team performed in defense of its 2021 conference title.

“It’s hard to win a team championship in track, especially when the target is on your back and you’re trying to repeat,” he said. “I’m super proud of the guys and how they executed their events. To be honest, it probably wasn’t even our best meet overall, but we did what we needed to do on day one to get as many competitors into the finals as we could. We scored in every event area, which is probably what I was most proud of.”

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The Hawkeyes will send three athletes to compete in the 400-meter race in Birmingham. Freshmen Chadrick Richards and Jenoah McKiver and four-time All-American junior Wayne Lawrence made the cut.

McKiver currently stands at fifth in the nation in the 400-meter with a time of 45.39 seconds, and Woody thinks he should be on the shortlist of potential title contenders in the event.

Woody also said the men’s 4×400 team, ranked second in the nation and starring Richards, junior Julien Gillum, Lawrence, and McKiver, should be considered a potential title favorite.

“Just based on where they’re currently ranked coming into the meet, I think Jenoah [in the 400] and our men’s 4×400 team both have a great chance of winning a championship,” he said. “I feel extremely confident in what Jenoah’s done this year, and he’s healthy and confident right now. I think he has the perfect opportunity to come home with the gold.”

Several Hawkeye entries have high expectations heading into the event, Woody said, but potential underdogs should have plenty of hope as well. In college, Woody was an NCAA Division I champion in the 400-meter hurdles.

“Once you’re in this meet, anybody can make the finals,” he said. “The top sixteen athletes in the country are competing, so obviously everybody here is pretty good. You can’t take anyone lightly at this event.”