Woody Joins Track Staff

July 19, 2006

IOWA CITY, IA – Iowa City native and World Champion runner Joey Woody has been named assistant coach with the University of Iowa men’s track and field team. His main area of concentration will be the sprint and hurdles groups. The announcement was made today by Head Coach Larry Wieczorek.

Woody joins Iowa’s full-time staff after serving as a volunteer assistant coach with the Hawkeye sprinters and middle distance runners last season. The last two years he has served as sports performance director and co-owner of Velocity Sports Performance in Cedar Rapids.

In the past decade Woody has raced competitively on the international track circuit, earning a spot on three World Championship teams. In 2003, he won the silver medal in the 400-meter hurdles at the World Championships and was ranked second in the world in that event. Woody was also part of the 1,600-meter relay which won the World Championships gold medal in 1999. In 2000, he ran on the 3,200-meter relay which set a world record.

Woody was a four-time all-American at Northern Iowa, winning the 1997 NCAA title in the 400-meter hurdles. He was inducted into the Drake Relays Hall of Fame in 2002. Woody earned a B.A. in public relations and communications from UNI in 1997, and is currently pursuing an M.A. in physical education with an exercise science emphasis.

He served as an assistant coach for the men and women’s squads at his alma mater for five seasons (1997-2002). During that time the Panthers won six Missouri Valley Conference team titles, including the first-ever for the women in 2002. He coached one individual all-American and assisted in coaching two all-American relays.

“We are excited for Joey to join our staff as an assistant coach,” said Wieczorek. “Not only is he a well-known athlete from the state of Iowa, he also brings a wealth of coaching and athletic experience to our program.”