April 11, 2005
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THIS WEEK — The Iowa women’s track team will send competitors to the 47th annual Mt. SAC Relays in Walnut, CA, and the Jim Duncan Invitational in Des Moines, this weekend. The Hawkeye men’s team will compete at the Tom Botts Invitational in Columbia, MO. The Mt. SAC Relays will be held Friday thru Sunday at Hilmer Lodge Stadium on the Mt. San Antonio College campus. The Jim Duncan Invitational will be held Saturday at Drake Stadium. The Tom Botts Invitational will be held Friday and Saturday at Audrey J. Walton Stadium on the University of Missouri campus.
NCAA REGIONAL QUALIFIERS — Iowa has qualified eight student-athletes for the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships, which will be held May 27-28 in Norman, OK. The top five student-athletes in each event from each of the four regions will then advance to the NCAA Championships, scheduled for June 8-11 in Sacramento, CA. The qualifiers, their events, marks and national rank are listed below.
Name – Event – Mark – NCAA Rank
Andy Banse – Discus – 175-3 (53.41 m) – 24th
Andy Banse – Shot Put – 61-11 1/2 (18.88 m) – 8th
Tim Brodersen – Discus 190-8 (58.12 m) – 6th
Dan Haut – 5,000 meters – 14:08.90 – 30th
Tiffany Johnson – Triple Jump – 40-4 3/4 (12.31 m) – 32nd
Tiffany Johnson – 100 Hurdles – 13.64 – 18th
Ken Kemeny – Shot Put – 60-5 3/4 (18.43 m) – 14th
Eric MacTaggart – 5,000 Meters – 14:04.79 – 18th
Peaches Roach – High Jump – 5-10 3/4 (1.80 m) – 7th
Chris Voller – Hammer – 199-6 (60.81 m) – 21st
LAST WEEK — The men’s and women’s teams crowned a combined 14 champions at the Mark Messersmith Invitational in Cedar Falls. The Hawkeyes also produced seven NCAA Midwest Regional qualifiers at the meet.
Hawkeye sophomores Peaches Roach and Tiffany Johnson each won three event titles on the day. Roach qualified for the NCAA Midwest Regional in the high jump (5-10 3/4), winning the 100 meters with a wind-aided time of 11.70 and anchoring the winning 400-meter relay. Johnson qualified in the 100-meter hurdles (13.64), won the triple jump (39-7 3/4) and ran the lead leg of the 400-meter relay. Improving their previous regional qualifying marks were seniors Andy Banse (discus) and Chris Voller (hammer) and junior Tim Brodersen (discus). Banse also won the shot put with a qualifying mark.
Winning two events for the Hawkeyes were senior Aisha Hume (800 meters, 1,600-meter relay), freshman Kineke Alexander (400 and 1,600-meter relays) and freshman Matty Gorman (long jump and triple jump). Iowa’s other event winners were senior Kamesha Marshall (shot put), sophomores Angie Hensel (long jump) and Nikki Chapple (1,500 meters) and freshman Kale Katt (javelin).
MEN’S TEAM CAPTAINS CHOSEN — Seniors Ken Kemeny, Juan Coleman and Bill Neumann are tri-captains for the 2005 season. Kemeny is a five-time NCAA qualifier in the shot put, the 2004 Drake Relays champion in that event and has led the team in the shot put each of the last three years. Coleman is a four-time NCAA qualifier in the 1,600-meter relay, and ran the lead leg on the 2001 Big Ten Outdoor Champion 400-meter relay. Neumann is a two-time all-American and Big Ten Champion in the javelin. He won that event in five of six meets in 2003, and is the school record holder.
HAWKEYE COACHES — Head Coaches Larry Wiezcorek and James Grant are in their ninth seasons at the helm of the Iowa men and women’s track teams, respectively.
During his career at Iowa, Wieczorek has coached 23 all-Americans and 35 Big Ten Champions. Iowa’s highest conference meet finishes during his tenure is second at the 1999 outdoor meet and fourth at the 1997 indoor meet. As a runner, Wieczorek was a six-time Big Ten champion for Iowa, winning four track and two cross country titles. He was also a four-time all-American. In 1998, Wieczorek was inducted into the National Iowa Varsity Club Hall of Fame.
The Hawkeyes crowned two individual champions and recorded their highest placing under Grant (third) and their highest team point total (89) in school history at the 2004 Big Ten indoor championships. During his career at Iowa, Grant has coached nine all-Americans and 18 Big Ten Champions. As a runner, Grant captained Eastern Michigan University’s 1970 and 1971 track teams. He earned all-America honors while specializing in the 400-meter dash, 400-meter hurdles and the mile relay.
NEXT COMPETITION — Iowa will host the seventh annual Iowa Musco Twilight Meet, April 23, at Francis X. Cretzmeyer Track in Iowa City. Competing teams in the co-ed scored meet are Drake, Minnesota, Missouri and Iowa. Start times are 3 p.m. for field events, 4 p.m. for running event “B” sections and 5:30 p.m. for running event finals. KGAN-TV will do a live telecast from the meet from 6:30-7 p.m.