May 22, 2006
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THIS WEEK — The Hawkeye men and women’s track teams will send athletes who meet the qualifying standards to the 2006 NCAA Midwest Regional, Friday-Saturday in Austin, TX. All events will be held at Mike A. Myers Stadium on the University of Texas campus. Single day tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for youth. Tickets can be ordered from the University of Texas Athletic ticket office at 800/982-2386 or www.texasports.com.
The Midwest region will feature 39 schools from Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Wyoming. The top five finishers in each individual event and the top three relays from each of the four regionals will automatically advance to the NCAA Championships, to be held June 7-10 in Sacramento, CA. The other three regions are the West (40 men’s teams, 42 women’s teams), the Mideast (78 men’s teams, 81 women’s teams) and the East (110 men’s teams, 112 women’s teams).
HAWKEYE REGIONAL FACTS — In the four-year history of the NCAA Midwest Regional meet, the Hawkeyes have experienced success. The women’s team has sent 60 qualifiers to the meet and crowned 19 all-region selections. The men’s team has sent 60 qualifiers and crowned nine all-region honorees. Bill Neumann won Iowa’s lone regional title in 2003, when he won the javelin.
Junior Tiffany Johnson and sophomore Kineke Alexander hold the women’s school record for times qualified to the regional meet in a career. Both are seven-time qualifiers – advancing in three events in 2005 and four in 2006. Senior Tim Brodersen shares that distinction with former Hawkeye Brad Daufeldt for the men’s squad, as both are four-time qualifiers. Brodersen is the only Hawkeye student-athlete to have qualified for four regional meets, competing in the discus in 2003-06. Daufeldt qualified in the discus and hammer in 2003-04.
WOMEN’S TEAM MAKES TRACKWIRE 25 — The Hawkeye women’s track team is tied for 18th in the most recent national outdoor rankings released by Trackwire. The list, compiled by Gary Verigin of www.trackwire.com, ranks schools according to a projected hypothetical score for the NCAA outdoor championships, which is generated by a power ranking of the top 12 athletes and relay squads in each NCAA event. Iowa is tied with Texas A&M for 18th in the rankings with 13 points. Texas is first with 65.
HAWKEYES SET RECORDS — Hawkeye juniors Micah VanDenend, Tiffany Johnson and Peaches Roach, and sophomore Meghan Armstrong have set new school records this outdoor season.
VanDenend broke a 38-year-old 5,000-meter record at the Stanford Invitational, running a collegiate-best 13:55.96 for sixth place in the event. Iowa Head Coach Larry Wieczorek set the previous record of 13:56.0 in 1968.
Johnson broke her own 100-meter hurdles and triple jump records. Her collegiate-best 13.53 at the Mt. SAC Relays broke the hurdles record of 13.57 she set in 2005, and she smashed the triple jump mark of 40-9 1/2 she set in 2005 with her collegiate best 41-3 1/4 leap at the Iowa Musco Twilight VIII. Johnson now holds school records in the indoor and outdoor triple jump, 60-meter hurdles, 100-meter hurdles and as part of the indoor 1,600-meter relay.
Roach broke the 23-year-old school high jump record of 6-0 set in 1983 by Mary Mol with a collegiate-best 6-0 3/4 at the Mt. SAC Relays. Roach holds the school indoor high jump mark, which is also 6-0 3/4.
Armstrong set the school 1,500-meter record with the 4:17.41 she ran at the Big Ten Championships. The previous record of 4:19. 71 was set in 1989 by Jeanne Kruckeberg.
2006 BIG TEN OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS REVIEW — The Iowa men’s team placed fourth and the Hawkeye women placed eighth at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships in East Lansing, MI. Despite cold and wet weather, the Hawkeye men recorded their highest team finish since they placing second in 1999. Wisconsin won the men’s team title for the third straight year, while the Minnesota women’s team won its first conference team title in school history.
The Iowa men were led by Big Ten champions Tim Brodersen and Adam Hamilton. Brodersen, a senior from Vermillion, SD, successfully defended his discus title with a winning throw of 181-2. He became the 17th Hawkeye in school history to win consecutive Big Ten titles in the same event. Brodersen also placed eighth in the hammer throw. Hamilton, a junior from Milford, NH, won the first title of the meet when he took the hammer throw title (208-1). He also became Iowa’s fourth Big Ten hammer throw champion.
Placing in the top three for the men’s team were sophomore Shane Maier (2nd – shot put), freshman David Chaplin (3rd – 100 meters), freshman John Hickey (3rd – shot put) and the 400-meter relay of sophomore Max Milder, Chaplin, junior David Pierre and freshman Prince Riley.
The women’s team was led by juniors Tiffany Johnson and Peaches Roach and sophomore Meghan Armstrong. Johnson placed second in the 100-meter hurdles (13.62), third in the triple jump (40-5) and ran on the 400 and 1,600-meter relays that placed fourth and seventh, respectively. Roach placed second in the high jump (58- 3/4), fourth in the 200 meters (24.28) and anchored the fourth-place 400-meter relay. Armstrong placed second in the 1,500 meters (4:17.41), setting a school record that beat her previous collegiate-best by almost nine seconds.
Sophomore Kineke Alexander was withheld from competition during the final day so as not to aggravate a nagging injury in the cold and wet conditions. In the prelims, she posted the second-fastest time in the 200 meters, the fourth fastest clocking in the 400 meters, and ran on the 400 and 1,600-meter relays. The 400-meter relay had the top qualifying time. Had she been able to compete on Sunday, Iowa’s team finish coudl have been as high as fifth.
2005 NCAA MIDWEST REGIONAL REVIEW — The men and women’s teams placed 17th at the 2005 NCAA Midwest Regional in Norman, OK. The women’s team scored 17 team points, while the men scored 15, and both automatically qualified two competitors to the NCAA Championships. Senior Ken Kemeny and junior Tim Brodersen automatically qualified in the shot put and discus, respectively. Sophomore Peaches Roach and freshman Kineke Alexander placed second in the high jump and 400 meters, respectively, to earn automatic bids in those events.