The Iowa track and field team kicked off its 2022-2023 indoor season Saturday at the Jimmy Grant Invitational.

Held at the Iowa Recreation Building, the Hawkeyes hosted full squads from Northern Iowa and Western Illinois and a group of sprinters from Wisconsin. The Hawkeyes took home first place in 16 of the day’s 27 events. 

Iowa Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Joey Woody said it’s hard to gauge how the athletes will do after Thanksgiving break, but a promising fall led him to anticipate good performances in the indoor season’s first event. 

“I thought we stepped up and outperformed what my expectations were,” Woody said. “Which is always a good thing because usually, I have pretty high expectations.”

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Woody highlighted sophomore Lia Love’s win in the women’s 300-meter dash with a meet-record time of 38.43. He also noted junior LaSarah Hargrove’s win in the women’s 60-meter dash prelims with another meet record of 7.39. However, Hargrove did not run in the  60-meter dash final because she also ran in the women’s 300-meter dash, finishing fourth in 38.83.

“That’s outside their comfort zone, so that was really good to see them compete well,” Woody said of multiple Iowa athletes running a variety of lengths. “Obviously, LaSarah’s going to be one of the best athletes in the Big Ten, and she had a great performance not only in the 60 but coming back in the 300.”

Hargrove was second in the 200-meter dash and third in the 60-meter dash at the Big Ten indoor championships last season. 

The Hawkeyes continued their impressive day in the hurdles events. 

In a showing Woody called “spectacular,” junior Grant Conway won the men’s 60-meter hurdles with a personal-best 7.69, junior Myreanna Bebe won the women’s 60-meter hurdles in 8.29, and juniors Paige Magee and Tionna Tobias followed Bebe in second and third in 8.33 and 8.44, respectively.

“Women’s hurdles [was] pretty spectacular to open up,” Woody said. “I think our hurdle program is in a really good spot right now.”

Sophomore Alli Bookin-Nosbisch took first in the women’s mile, crossing the line in 4:48.25, setting a new meet record for the Hawkeyes in her first time running the event.

Iowa closed out the night with wins in both the men’s and women’s 4×400-meter relays in front of an energetic home crowd. 

In the men’s race, the team of Nick O’Conner, Gratt Reed, Martin Strong, and Spencer Gudgel won with a 3:15.54 while Hawkeye quartet Brett Wasick, Evan Schuster, Ryan Schreiner, and Phillip Jefferson followed close behind, finishing in second-place 3:15.74. 

In the women’s relay, the team of Katie Moore, Audrey Biermann, Gabby Cortez, and Mariel Bruxvoort captured first place, posting a time of 3:45:08, while Hawkeyes Ellie Rickertsen, Paige Magee, Grace Bookin-Nosbisch, and Chloe Larsen earned silver medal position with a 3:46.75.

Tobias leads impressive long jump wins

While Iowa handled its business on the track, Woody’s team also impressed in the jumping events. 

Junior Tionna Tobias, who is set to compete in both the heptathlon and pentathlon events later this season, comfortably won the women’s long jump with a personal and meet-record mark of 6.14 meters. 

Tobias said she was unaware that she had broken the Jimmy Grant Invitational record until her mom texted her the news. 

Last season, Tobias jumped past six meters once, posting a mark of 6.13 meters at the Larry Wieczorek Invitational. On Saturday, she did it four times. Tobias called her long jump performance Saturday “an achievement” and said she thinks she can be great this season.

“I just feel like I’m going in the right direction this time,” Tobias said. “[It was a] way better start this year and actually more consistent … I think I can keep pushing. Of course, this was a good meet, but I don’t want to set this as my standard. I just want to break boundaries I know I never could have achieved before.”

Woody said he was impressed with Tobias’s consistency over the entire day, pointing out the Sicklerville, New Jersey native’s third-place finish in 60-meter hurdles after her victory in the long jump. 

“We’re counting on big things with her in the pentathlon indoor,” he said.“Obviously, those are two big events in the pentathlon, so she’s in a really good place going into January.”

Senior James Carter also notched a win in the men’s long jump, leaping a meet-record 7.58 meters.

“[With] James opening up 7.58 — almost 25 feet— in his first meet, I thought that was impressive and showing where he’s at fitness-wise,” Woody said.

Up next

The Hawkeyes will take a month-long break for the holidays before returning to Iowa City on Jan. 14, to host the Hawkeye Invitational.