Hawkeye Trio Heads To USATF Championships

June 19, 2006

INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Three Hawkeye throwers are scheduled to compete at the 2006 USA Track and Field Junior and Senior National meets Wednesday-Sunday in Indianapolis, IN. All events will be held at IU Michael A. Carroll Track and Soccer Stadium on the IUPUI campus.

Hawkeye junior Adam Hamilton will be competing in the hammer throw Friday at 2 p.m. If he is one of the top two finishers (under age 23), he will qualify for the North America, Central America and Caribbean Athletic Association (NACAC) Under 23 National Championships in the Dominican Republic July 7-9. Hamilton is currently ranked fifth among national competitors under age 23. He won the 2006 Big Ten hammer throw title, and qualified for the NCAA championships in that event. His best hammer throw of 220-6 ranks second in Iowa school history.

Sophomores John Hickey and A.J. Curtis will compete in the 19-and-under category. Hickey will compete in the shot put Thursday at 2:15 p.m., while Curtis will compete in the discus Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. and the shot put. If they finish in the top two, they will qualify to represent the United States at the IAAF World Junior Championships, Aug. 15-20 in Beijing, China. Hickey currently leads the nation in the 16-pound shot in that age group. Curtis leads the nation in the discus with the 2-kilogram implement and ranks second behind Hickey in the 16-pound shot. They will use the 6-kilogram shot put and the 1.75-kilogram discus at the junior national meet. In their first year with the Hawkeyes, Hickey posted a collegiate-best shot put of 58-1, which ranks seventh in school history. Curtis threw collegiate-bests of 57-7 3/4 in the indoor shot put and 173-11 in the discus. Those marks rank ninth and 10th, respectively, in school history.