Five Hawkeye track and field athletes will travel to the NCAA Indoor Championships in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on March 10-11.

Four of the five come from the men’s team — senior jumper James Carter Jr., junior hurdler Grant Conway, and junior multi-event athletes Austin West and Peyton Haack. Junior hurdler Myreanna Bebe is the lone representative from the women’s team.

“Those guys are all great representations of what we’re trying to do as a program,” Iowa director of track and field Joey Woody said. “We want to qualify more athletes. We expect to qualify more athletes.”

Haack and West, who will compete in the men’s heptathlon, qualified with 6,007 and 5,861 points in the event, respectively.

“It’s going to be a really, really tight competition,” Haack said. “I think that’s the main goal, is go be top three, go show some dominance. But if it’s right there for the taking, winning is always an option. It’s always a thought in your head.”

Haack earned second-team All-American honors in the event with a 12th place finish at the 2021 NCAA championships, but he spent much of the last season sidelined with a torn labrum, abdominal wall tear, and adductor injury.

He initially called this season a building year, but he’s now excited to be back after seeing renewed success.

“It’s just going to be a blast,” Haack said. “We have some big things we’re pushing for, big goals, but at the end of the day, it’s just trying to go enjoy the experience and have fun.”

Conway qualified with a 7.69-second time in the men’s 60-meter hurdles. He is representing the Iowa hurdles squad and “continuing to put us on the map.”

“We’re definitely Hurdle U, no questions about that,” Conway said. “We have a lot of depth and a lot of good training partners who have came through here, and we just have a lot of success in the hurdles and continue to have success.”

Conway earned second-team All-American honors in the event in the 2022 indoor championships, finishing 15th out of 16 with a 7.84-second time.

“Last year, making it’s like, ‘OK, you get there, you’re taking in the environment a little bit. I’m gonna get a feel for things, try to go out and do your best,’” Conway said. “This year, I’m definitely going in looking to be first-team All-American, be top eight, make that podium, and race on day two.”

Carter qualified in two events: the long jump and triple jump with respective leaps of 7.85 meters and 16.14 meters.

Despite finishing second in both events at the Big Ten Championships and earning second-team All-Big Ten honors, Carter thought he could have done better. Now, he has the chance.

“There are no limits of what can happen this week, so I think he’s excited,” said Hadrien Choukroun, Iowa jumps and combined events coach. “He’s feeling really good right now, so I think he’s going into this meet very confident. He wanted his revenge too, so that’s a good thing.”

Bebe punched her ticket to the national meet with a personal and school record 8.07-second time in the finals of the Big Ten women’s 60-meter hurdles event — good for a Big Ten individual championship and the ninth-fastest time in the country this season.

“She’s been solid all year long, breaking the school record, and she’s been running consistently good ever since she’s been here,” Conway said. “It’s great to have not only one hurdler on the guys but also another girl on the girl’s side too to continue to show that we’re dominant in that event on both sides.”

The outdoor season kicks off March 17-18 in Miami, Florida, for the Hurricane Invitational.