Dec. 5, 2005
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THIS WEEK — The Hawkeye men and women’s track teams will hold their annual intrasquad meet Wednesday at the University of Iowa Recreation Building in Iowa City. Field events start at 6 p.m. with running events at 6:30 p.m. Admission to the event is free.
2006 MEN’S SEASON PREVIEW — The Hawkeyes return all-American Adam Hamilton and Big Ten discus champion Tim Brodersen in the throws, as well as seven of the top eight runners from the 2004 Hawkeye cross country team that recorded its highest Big Ten (3rd) and NCAA (13th) placing in Head Coach Larry Wieczorek’s 18 years as head coach. The Hawkeyes will look to several newcomers to make immediate contributions. The 2006 squad consists of four redshirt freshmen and 21 true freshmen.
2006 WOMEN’S SEASON PREVIEW — Iowa returns seven of the 10 student-athletes who qualified for the 2005 regional track meet, and 21 of the 26 letterwinners. The young squad has only have two seniors – distance runners Nikki Chapple and Katie Donlon. Juniors Peaches Roach and Tiffany Johnson, and sophomore Kineke Alexander led the Hawkeye track team in 2005. Each qualified for the NCAA Midwest Regional in three events. Roach snagged her third Big Ten high jump title during the indoor season and her first all-America honor in that event, outdoors. She also set the school indoor high jump record of 6-0 3/4. Johnson set school records in the indoor and outdoor triple jump and the 100-meter hurdles. Alexander earned all-America honors in the indoor and outdoor 400 meters in her first season, setting the outdoor school record.
HAWKEYE COACHES — Head Coaches Larry Wiezcorek and James Grant are in their 10th 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 36 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 past three seasons have been outstanding for Grant and the Hawkeyes. Iowa placed third at the 2004 Big Ten Indoor Championships in Iowa City and sixth at the 2003 conference outdoor meet. Both were Iowa’s highest placings during Grant’s tenure. The third-place indoor finish tied the team’s highest conference finish in school history. In the last three seasons, the Hawkeyes crowned 11 Big Ten champions, 38 regional qualifiers, 15 all-region selections, 24 NCAA qualifiers and three all-Americans, and set 17 school records.