Iowa women’s track and field junior hurdler Myreanna Bebe headlined the team’s six wins at the Fighting Illini Challenge on April 4, building momentum for another team split across the country this weekend.

The University of Illinois hosted the meet in 60-degree Champaign, Illinois, weather, just 200 miles southwest of Iowa City. A handful of Iowa hurdlers and sprinters traveled for the event.

Bebe made her outdoor season debut after winning the Big Ten indoor women’s 60-meter hurdles championship on Feb. 25, blowing away the field to win the women’s 100-meter hurdles event with a wind-aided 13.18.

Bebe has maintained the same mentality that won her the indoor championship: confidence in her abilities and enjoyment of the process.

“I’m working on being very vigilant in my races,” she said. “I’m hitting all the stuff that I need to hit — form, technique — but yeah, really just going out there and [being] aggressive and having fun, enjoying some good weather.”

Freshman sprinter Audrey Biermann was responsible for three wins, her first coming in the 400-meter race with a personal-record 53.06. Junior sprinter Aliyanna Dorn’s 54.86 finish was good for second.

“Audrey has been so rock solid; she’s been unbelievably stable as a freshman,” Iowa long sprints coach Jason Wakenight said. “That’s just the start for her. I think she’s an athlete that can consider herself not just an elite athlete on our team but also within the conference and at the national level.”

Biermann then joined sophomore Brynley McDermott and fellow freshmen Julia Pattison and Alexandria Edison for the 4×100-meter relay in which the squad finished in 46.00 seconds for Biermann’s second win. In the 4×400-meter relay, Biermann notched her third win on the day as she teamed up this time with Dorn, sophomore Jaiden Itson, and junior Nylah Perry to finish in 3:39.65.

“I feel great after all those wins,” Biermann said. “The [4×100-meter relay] was super fun. I usually don’t do the [4×100-meter relay], but I had a lot of fun.”

Junior sprinter Damoy Allen won the men’s 100-meter dash with a 10.42-second finish. Sophomore hurdler Phillip Jefferson earned a personal record with his 50.92-second win in the 400-meter hurdles, senior hurdler Julien Gillum finishing in second place.

“I think that’s just the tip of the iceberg for [Jefferson],” Wakenight said. “I think that it’s just the start of big things for him and his career … I think he’s going to take that [50.92 finish] and take it to the next level and start pushing the envelope of breaking 50 [seconds] and being one of the best guys in the country.”

Overall, Wakenight loved how the team capitalized on the comfortable outdoor conditions, considering the weather is not always perfect in April.

“Taking advantage of that opportunity and being really competitive across the board, I just loved how well we were competing,” he said. “That led to some great marks and great results, but the competitiveness was what stood out to me most.”

Looking forward

The U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association ranked the Iowa men’s team 10th nationally with the women’s team dropping to 27th.

Iowa jumpers, sprinters, and hurdlers — including Bebe — will travel south to the Florida-hosted Tom Jones Invitational in Gainesville from April 14-15, which Iowa director of track and field Joey Woody called one of the best events in the country.

There, Woody is looking for the relays and men’s 400-meter event group to meet and exceed expectations for the season. But for Bebe, winning another Big Ten individual championship for the outdoor season is not yet on her mind.

“I think that will all come if I just do my job,” Bebe said. “Right now, it’s just doing your job, getting the reps in, showing up every day, and letting all the opportunities and rewards come to me.”

The Iowa track and field team began this weekend’s split with multi-event athletes Peyton Haack and Austin West in the decathlon at the Mt. San Antiono College-hosted Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, California, on April 12, the meet concluding on April 15th.

Joining them in California will be the mid-distance and distance runners, a handful competing in the Azusa Pacific University-hosted Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa from April 13-15.

Wakenight said the team will be patient with its athletes after last week, as its sights are set not just on the Big Ten conference meet but also the NCAA meet.

Still, he is looking for mid-distance runner Ryan Schreiner to continue his impressive freshman campaign and twins Alli and Grace Bookin-Nosbisch to open their outdoor seasons there this weekend.

“Schreiner has been looking incredibly good over the last six to eight weeks since the end of indoor and leading into outdoor, so his [personal record] is nowhere close to what he’s capable of,” Wakenight said. “I see him as being a big-time competitor in the upcoming weeks.”

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Throwers and a few sprinters will compete at the Drake University-hosted Jim Duncan Invitational in Des Moines, Iowa, on April 14. Woody found the locality of that meet important.

“Just kind of keeping that group a little more local is nice because they can keep training at a high level and not have to worry so much about the travel and stuff that we’ve dealt with this year,” Woody said. “That’s just going to build us towards our championship season as we get to the end of April and the beginning of May.”

But just as important to success has been the Iowa weather, the team now starting to get outside for practices in the 70-degree sunshine after struggling to practice in meet-like conditions last year.

“[I] already can see the athletes get way more confidence,” Woody said. “They’re feeling better; they’re healthier, just not having to be on the indoor track another month or two, so [we’re] really excited about being outside a lot more, and that’s going to set us up nice when we go to places like Florida.”