Iowa men’s track and field will head north this weekend in search of its third consecutive Big Ten Outdoor Championship title.

The Hawkeye men won the Big Ten Outdoor Championship in 2019 and 2021. The 2020 meet was canceled because of COVID-19. 

The Big Ten Championships will be on the University of Minnesota campus from May 13-15. 

The Hawkeye men’s track and field team is ranked No. 20 in the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Association’s latest national poll. Most athletes will work on a two-week break from competition, as the Hawkeyes sent just six competitors to the Dr. Tucker Open in Dubuque on May 7.

Iowa has been without sophomore sprinters Kalen Walker and Jenoah McKiver for a month after they suffered injuries in mid-April. Walker informally announced his season’s end in a tweet sent out on April 25. 

Iowa director of track and field Joey Woody said McKiver was working through unspecified injuries on April 20. Woody said at the time that he was hopeful McKiver would return for the Big Ten Championships.

“We’re working through some things with him as well,” Woody said April 20. “We’ve got a good system in place with our trainers to make sure [he] gets back healthy. We’ve just got to monitor some things and be smart. This time of the year, when it’s been a long season, we’ve got to pull back and let his body heal up a little bit.”

The Hawkeyes will have James Carter Jr., however, to lead them in field events. Carter won two flags at the Drake Relays on April 28-30 with an all-time best mark of 7.84 meters in the long jump and a 15.79-meter mark in the triple jump. 

Any Hawkeye qualifiers at this weekend’s meet will advance to the NCAA West Prelims, hosted in Fayetteville, Arkansas, from May 25-28.