The Iowa track and field team had its last run before championship season at the Iowa Open in Iowa City on Friday.

The Hawkeyes welcomed competitors from Iowa State, Northern Iowa, Drake, Bradley, Coe College, Knox College, and Quincy University to the Iowa Indoor Track Building for the last meet of the indoor regular season.

Iowa junior sprinter Austin Kresley led the way in the men’s 60-meter dash. He qualified for the finals with a meet-record and personal-record 6.71, moving him to tied for fourth all-time in the event at Iowa. 

He then ran a 6.64 to win the final, beat that meet and personal record, and move up to second on the all-time list.

“This was a long time coming for me,” Kresley said. “I’ve been working with my start the last two weeks, trying to focus on my second step. It finally clicked in the prelims, so [Iowa director of track and field Joey Woody] just told me to go out there, do the exact same thing [I] just did, and it will come.”

Woody said seeing Kresley’s performance felt “awesome.”

“I knew something was there, but I wasn’t quite expecting that,” Woody said. “It was definitely good to see … It’s really good momentum going into [the] Big Ten [championships].”

Iowa junior sprinters Khullen Jefferson and Kalen Walker followed behind for the sweep with a second-place 6.76 and third-place 6.77, respectively.

Hurdlers prep for championship season

Junior hurdler Myreanna Bebe, who set the Iowa women’s 60-meter hurdle record at the Larry Wieczorek Invitational this season, also ran the top qualifying time in the women’s 60-meter hurdle prelim Friday. Her 8.21 is a meet record. She then won the final with a time of 8.15.

“I know that, with the Big Ten [championships] coming up, I wanted to just keep the ball rolling these next couple of weeks because this week was really supposed to be our rest week,” Bebe said. “I want to just keep [running] those hurdles so I’m prepared … when it comes to Big Tens.”

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Freshman hurdler Natalie Harris finished third in the final, running a personal-record 8.59.

Iowa junior hurdler Grant Conway grabbed the top qualifying time in the men’s 60-meter hurdle prelim with a 7.79. He went on to win the final, running a meet-record 7.69 that ties his personal record set at the Jimmy Grant Invitational this season.

“To be able to back up his [personal record] from December is really good because he’s tied with a bunch of guys [in the] top 10 in the country, so they always go to your second-best performance,” Woody said. “For him to match that puts him ahead of all those guys, so that’s a big deal.”

Other successes

Iowa junior jumper Tionna Tobias won the women’s high jump with a personal-record 1.70 meters. Junior jumper Kayla Hutchins won the women’s triple jump with a 12.21-meter leap.

Iowa senior thrower Ianna Roach won the women’s shot put with a personal-record 14.78 meters. Junior thrower Quintin Lyons finished third in the men’s side of the event with a 17.21-meter throw, a season-best.

“I think it’s good to have a lot of our athletes have either season bests or [personal records] at the right time of the season,” Woody said. “That’s always a really good sign for the whole team.”

Looking forward

The Hawkeyes will turn their focus to the Big Ten Indoor Championships next week, from Feb. 24-25, in Geneva, Ohio.

“We know we’re prime; we know we’re ready to run well,” Woody said. “They lit it up, and I think that really builds that confidence going into next week.”