Feb. 19, 2007
IOWA CITY, IA –
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THIS WEEK — The Hawkeyes will compete at the Big Ten Championships Saturday, and Sunday in Bloomington, IN. All events will be held at Harry Gladstein Fieldhouse on the Indiana University campus. All-session tickets are $10, and single session tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for youth, and are available through the Indiana University Athletic Ticket Office at 1-866-487-7678.
NCAA QUALIFIERS — The Hawkeyes have qualified four student-athletes for the NCAA Indoor Championships, which will be held March 9-10 in Fayetteville, AR. Their event, qualifying marks and where they rank in the Big Ten and nation are listed below.
Name – Event – Mark – Big 10/NCAA Rank
Adam Hamilton – Weight Throw – 66-0 1/2 (20.13 m) – 3rd/13th
John Hickey – Shot Put – 59-7 1/2 (18.17 m) – 2nd/19th
Shane Maier – Shot Put – 59-5 1/2 (18.12 m) – 3rd/21st
Micah VanDenend – 5,000 Meters – 14:08.06 – 6th/24th
2006 BIG TEN INDOOR REVIEW — Iowa placed seventh with 49 points and crowned one event champion at the 2006 Big Ten Indoor Championships in Iowa City. Wisconsin won its fourth-straight conference team title with 124.5 points.
Hawkeye sophomore Matty Gorman won the long jump title with a collegiate-best and NCAA provisional qualifying 24-8 1/2 (7.53 meters). Junior Adam Hamilton placed third in the weight throw (64-7 3/4), and three Hawkeyes placed in the top six in the shot put. Sophomore Shane Maier placed third (58-10 3/4), freshman A.J. Curtis placed fourth (57-7 3/4) and freshman John Hickey placed sixth (55-9). Sophomore Ryan Niver set a school record in the heptathlon with his fourth-place tally of 4,984 points.
IOWA IN BIG TEN HISTORY — Iowa has won three Big Ten indoor track team titles and 72 event titles since the first meet was held in 1911. The Hawkeyes won titles in 1926 and 1929 and were co-champions with Michigan in 1963. Iowa has had two student-athletes earn Big Ten Indoor Freshman of the Year honors. Bashir Yamini earned the honor in 1996 for placing second in the high jump and Jeremy Allen earned it in 1998 for placing second in the shot put. Former Hawkeye Ed DeLashmutt set the Big Ten Indoor Championships 1,500-meter record of 3:49.90 in 1981. That record is now retired.
LAST WEEK — The Hawkeyes crowned nine champions and provisionally qualified two for the NCAA Indoor Championships at the Iowa Invitational in Iowa City. Sophomore John Hickey won the shot put with a collegiate-best, team-leading and provisional qualifying 59-7 1/2. Senior Adam Hamilton also won the weight throw with a provisional qualifying mark of 66-0 1/4. Iowa’s other event winners were senior Lee Elbert (400 meters-50.34), juniors Jeremy Petsche (high jump-6-9 3/4), Jeff Raymond (pole vault-15-7 3/4) and Aaron Reed (long jump-22-7 1/4), sophomore Prince Riley (600 meters-1:21.77), and freshmen Paul Chaney, Jr. (60 meters-6.91) and Jesse Luciano (800 meters-1:55.94).
HAWKEYES SIGN THREE — The University of Iowa men’s track program has signed Matt Banse (Strawberry Point, IA), Chris Barton (Sherman Oaks, CA) and Brandon McSkimming (West Des Moines, IA) to national letters of intent.
Banse, who is the younger brother for former Hawkeye Andy Banse, is a two-time shot put state champion for Starmont High School. His best throw is 60-3. He also placed second in the discus at the state meet and the shot at the Drake Relays. Andy Banse competed for the Hawkeyes (2002-05) and was team MVP in 2005.
Barton anchored the state champion 400-meter relay and placed third in the 400 meters at the California state meet for Notre Dame High School. His best 400-meter time of 47.70 ranks him third in the state and 23rd in the nation.
McSkimming is the top returning 400-meter runner and second-best returning 200-meter runner in Class 4A. He anchored the state champion 1,600-meter relay to a state record-breaking time of 3:13.80. He also ran on the state champion 400-meter relay for Valley High School. He placed third in the 200 and 400 meters at the state meet, and Valley’s 1,600-meter relay ended the 2006 season ranked 10th in the nation. McSkimming’s personal bests are 21.95 in the 200 and 49.40 in the 400 meters.
2007 TEAM CAPTAINS NAMED — Seniors David Pierre, Adam Hamilton and Micah VanDenend and junior Shane Maier have been named team captains for the 2007 season. Hamilton, an all-American and all-region selection from Milford, NH, is the 2006 Big Ten hammer throw champion. Maier, from Storm Lake, IA, earned all-region in the shot put last season, finishing one spot out of all-America contention at the NCAA Championships. VanDenend, a native of Glenbard, IL, won the 2006 NCAA Midwest Cross Country Regional and set two school distance records last season. Pierre is a sprinter from Miami, FL. The four have earned a combined five academic all-Big Ten honors.
HAWKEYE COACHING STAFF — Head Coach Larry Wieczorek is in his 11th season at the helm of the Iowa men’s track team. During his career at Iowa, Wieczorek has coached 24 all-Americans and 39 Big Ten Champions. Iowa’s highest conference meet finishes during his tenure are second at the 1999 outdoor meet and fourthat 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 – and a four-time all-American. In 1998, he was inducted into the National Iowa Varsity Club Hall of Fame. Assisting Wieczorek are Scott Cappos and Joey Woody. Cappos, a three-time all-American at Indiana, is in his 11th season developing the Hawkeye field event student-athletes. Woody, a World Champion and four-time all-American at Northern Iowa, is in his first season with the Hawkeye sprint and hurdles groups.
NEXT COMPETITION — The Hawkeyes will have one more chance to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships. The team will send competitors to the Alex Wilson Invite in South Bend, IN, March 2-3, and the Last Chance Qualifier in Ames March 3.