Last weekend, the Iowa track and field team had a weekend stacked with wins, lifetime bests, and new spots in the history.
The Hawkeyes split up across the country in a jam packed slate. The team traveled to Long Beach, California; Gainesville, Florida; Lawrence, Kansas; Azusa, California; and Walnut, California.
Hogtown
Both the men’s and women’s sprinters found a lot of success at the Tom Jones Invitational in Gainesville.
Last week, coach Jason Wakenight told the Daily Iowan that he expected a school record in the women’s 4×400, and they did just that.
Second-year Olivia Lucas, and first-year’s Chioma Nwachukwu, Damaris Mutunga, and Alivia Williams recorded a time of 3:30.92, which placed them 13th overall and first in program history.
Nwachukwu carried that momentum into her 400-meter race as she ran a new personal-record of 51.26 seconds, breaking the program record and earning second place. Mutunga followed, capturing her personal-best at 52.13 seconds, resulting in her claiming the seventh-best score in Iowa history.
Third-year Holly Duax captured her personal-best in the 200-meter dash. The junior notched a time of 23.50 to claim fifth place in the meet and seventh on the all-time leaderboard.
The Hawkeyes shined in the 400-meter hurdles, with Third-year Ellie Rickertson leading the way with a personal-best score of 1:00.20. First-year Claire Kohler followed with a personal-best 1:00.88 that earned her ninth place.
On the men’s side, fifth-year Kalen Walker made his first appearance for the year, sprinting for an astonishing time of 10.06 seconds, which broke his previous school record and clinched fifth place in the tournament.
Fun in the Sunflower State
In Lawrence, Kansas, the throwers continued their trend of success.
Third-year Sean Smith had a historic heave in the men’s hammer throw. He notched 68.25 meters which earned him the gold and second-best hammer throw in program history. Second-year Austin Busch followed closely behind, claiming second place with a 66.78 meter throw, a mark that earned him fifth all-time in Hawkeye history.
On the women’s side, third-year Wisdom Williams earned first place in shot put with a 15.98 meter throw. Third-year Lizzy Korczack finished in first place in the javelin throw after notching 50.80 meters.
California love
The men’s and women’s long and mid-distance runners traveled to Azusa, California, to compete in the Bryan Clay Invitational.
The men’s 3000-meter steeplechase had a lot of success. In his season debut, redshirt freshman Luke Knepp claimed second place with a personal-best time of 8:39.54. This brought him to second in program history and second in Big Ten.
Fifth-year Yohana Yual followed behind with a personal-best of 8:53.35, securing him fourth place in the record books.
Lastly, the men’s and women’s multi-event athletes traveled to Walnut, California. They competed in the Mt. Sac Relays which is known as one of the biggest events in the track and field world.
For the men’s decathlon, third-year Sal Capaldo scored a personal best of 7,221 points which brings him to fifth in program history. He claimed first place in the high jump, 2.01 meters, and fifth place in the 100 meter, 10.79 seconds, and 400 meter, 50.04 seconds.
In the women heptathlon, second-year Carlee Rochford was the highlight. She notched a personal best performance of 5,114 points which earned her eighth all-time at Iowa, and also claimed bronze in the javelin throw with a personal best heave of 35.78 meters.
The jumpers also had an impressive result.Second-year Maud Zeffou-Poaty claimed second place with a 6.31 meter long jump, while First-year Maria Arboleda earned silver with a 1.85 meter high jump.
Finally, Jeanne Le Goff captured third place with a 12.67 meter triple jump, bringing her to seventh on the all-time list at Iowa.
Looking ahead
The Hawkeyes are staying in Iowa this weekend as they split up between Des Moines and Indianola.
Some of the women’s long-distance, mid-distance, and sprinters will head to Indianola to compete in the Kip Janvrin Open.
The rest of the team will head to Des Moines, where they will be competing in the Drake Relays. The program is excited for the fun that this meet brings.
“Obviously, we’ve got the Drake Relays this weekend, which is a lot of fun. You know, some of them will be doing relays versus their primary individual events, so that’s more of a relaxing environment. Have some fun with the relays,” coach Randy Hasenbank said.
The Iowa track and field program remains confident in their runners and excited to see where the future takes them.
“Overall, we have some tremendous athletes,” Hasenbank said. “If you look up and down the NCAA West Regional list, we have some superstars in there, ranked very high, top five in some of these events. I think the goal is to get the team to the finish line healthy.”