Despite the cool, breezy conditions, the Hawkeyes put on a show at the Musco Twilight —Iowa’s first and only home track and field meet of the outdoor season.

Field event finishes

The field event squad came out on top in the hammer throw, discus, and high jump.

The hammer throw took place on Friday, resulting in podium finishes for three Hawkeyes. For the men, second-year Sean Smith and redshirt first-year Austin Busch took first and second place, respectively. The pair set personal bests of 67.78 meters and 65.22 meters.

Smith’s throw ranks second in Hawkeye history and Busch’s ranks fifth.

Iowa throws coach Ray Robinson believes there is more in store.

“We are making the last push towards championship season,” Robinson told HawkeyeSports. “We manipulated their weight room activity and manipulated their ball set in the hammer to get them geared up for that. Today was a sneak peek.”

In the same event for the women, Alivia Bauer took first with a new career-best of 56.64, improving upon her seventh-ranked throw in school history.

In the men’s discus, fourth-year Jordan Johnson took the gold and a new personal record of 58.00 meters. Second-year Walker Whalen finished with a new best of 50.40 meters.

Two Hawkeyes, fourth-year Kat Moody and first-year Sydnie Smith, filled the top two spots in the women’s discus. Moody came out on top with a throw of 55.04 meters with Smith’s new personal-best of 49.80 close behind. Smith is now ranked eighth in Iowa history.

“[Moody] had a huge day,” Iowa Director of Track and Field Joey Woody said. “She is consistent and really close to some big marks.”

She also placed second in the women’s shot put with a throw of 16.31 meters.

Fourth-year Zack Pluff represented the Black and Gold jumpers with a first-place finish in the high jump. Pluff cleared 2.01 meters.

Rounding out the field event efforts was third-year Jade Hunter. She took first place and a personal best in the women’s high jump, clearing 1.70 meters.

On the track

Fourth-year Ellie Twedt took the top spot in the first running event of the meet. She finished the unseeded 1500-meter race in 4:52.13.

Carson Houg took third in the men’s Larry Wieczorek-1500 with a time of 3:59.22.

Third-year Laney Fitzpatrick ran a 25.79 to claim third place in the women’s 200-meter sprint.

First-year Audra Soderlind also secured a bronze finish in the 3000 meter race.

Coming up

Next up, the Hawkeyes will take the blue oval at the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, on April 25-27. Another crew of Iowa runners will travel to Tuscon, Arizona, for the Desert Heat Classic.

“We are looking to build on that momentum we have right now,” Woody said. “We are looking forward to championship season.”