Hawkeyes Do Well In Opener

Jan. 14, 2006

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IOWA CITY — The University of Iowa men and women’s track team hosted the Hawkeye Open today in the University Recreation Building. Coe College, Illinois, North Central, Truman State and Western Illinois all sent competitors to the early season meet.

Several Hawkeyes had excellent performances during the day and many set new collegiate marks in their events. Senior Adam Hamilton placed first and moved into the sixth spot on the Top 10 Indoor Performers list with his toss of 18.93 meters in the weight throw. Ryan Jordan also improved his position on that list with a mark of 17.39 meters and set a new personal best. In the women’s weight throw, Iowa juniors Becca Franklin and Erin O’Hern placed first and second, respectively.

Iowa had several top finishers in the men’s and women’s mile run. The Hawkeyes took the top four spots in the women’s event with Meghan Armstrong earning the gold followed by Krista Anderson, Shannon Stanley, and Jessica Schmidt. Armstrong, Anderson, Schmidt and Molly Esche all set new personal bests, as well. On the men’s side, freshman Alex Webster took second with a time of 4:19.90 to lead the Hawkeyes. The men also had five of the top six finishers in the two mile run with Eric MacTaggart earning first in 9:02.90.

Many Hawkeye freshmen did well in their first taste of collegiate track. Amanda Chandler placed first in the shot put with a distance of 12.65 meters and Renee White was tops in the long jump with a mark of 5.82 meters. Freshmen John Hickey and A.J. Curtis were third and fourth in the shot put, as well.

Junior standout Peaches Roach took first in the high jump when she cleared 1.75 meters; Matty Gorman and Aaron Reed went one-two in the men’s long jump.

Kineke Alexander ran to a first place finish in the 600 meters with a time of 1:36.89 and fellow sophomore Aditya Jones was third (1:40.03). Sophomores Lee Elbert and Max Milder both moved into the Top 10 Indoor list in the 60 meter dash; Elbert’s time in the finals of 6.91 puts him in the seventh spot and Milder’s time of 6.98 in the preliminaries was good enough for eighth.

Tiffany Johnson set a new personal record and placed third in the 200 meter dash (25.36). Johnson was also on Iowa’s winning 1,600 meter relay along with Lindsey McCalla, Aditya Jones and Alexander.

The men and women’s teams compete January 21 in the Gold Country Classic in Minneapolis. Several members of the women’s team will also be competing in the Arkansas Razorback Invite in Fayetteville, AR, January 20 and 21.