April 9, 2007
IOWA CITY, IA –
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THIS WEEK — The Iowa men’s track team will compete at the John Jacobs Invitational Friday and Saturday, in Norman, OK. All events will be held at John Jacobs Field on the Oklahoma University campus. Four distance events will take place Friday night, starting at 7:30 p.m. The remainder of the track and field events are scheduled for Saturday. Field events will start at 11 a.m. and running events at 1 p.m.
IOWA’S REGIONAL QUALIFIERS — The Hawkeyes have qualified four individuals to the NCAA Midwest Regional, which will be held May 25-26, at Drake Stadium in Des Moines, IA. Their events, qualifying marks and where they rank in the Big Ten, region and nation are listed below.
Name – Event – Mark – Big 10/Region/Nation
A.J. Curtis – Discus – 202-11 (61.84 m) – 1st/1st/3rd
John Hickey – Shot Put – 59-5 1/2 (18.12 m) – 1st/1st/9th
Adam Hamilton – Hammer Throw – 200-11 (61.24 m) – 1st/4th/24th
Micah VanDenend – 5,000 Meters – 13:49.31 – 1st/2nd/4th
LAST WEEK — Hawkeye sophomore thrower A.J. Curtis set a school record and qualified for the NCAA Midwest Regional in the discus with his winning throw of 202-11 at the Central College Invitational Friday in Pella, IA. The previous record of 202-4 was set in 1986 by Gary Kostrubala. Curtis’ throw also set a meet record and smashed his previous best of 173-11 in that event. He and Kostrubala are the only two Hawkeyes in school history to throw over 200 feet in that event.
Curtis and five other Hawkeyes braved cold temperatures that dropped into the twenties and wind gusts of up to 30 miles per hour to compete in the meet. Senior Adam Hamilton won the hammer with a throw of 199-4, which also established a new meet record. Also placing in that event were junior Kale Katt (2nd-178-0), senior Ryan Jordan (4th-171-3), and sophomores John Hickey (5th-169-11) and Mark Schaapveld (8th-163-0).
HAWKEYE COACHING STAFF — Head Coach Larry Wieczorek is in his 11th season at the helm of the Iowa men’s track team. He has coached 24 all-Americans and 40 Big Ten Champions at Iowa. The team’s highest conference meet finishes during his tenure are second at the 1999 outdoor meet and fourth at 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, Wieczorek was inducted into the National Iowa Varsity Club Hall of Fame. He is assisted by three-time Indiana all-American Scott Cappos and World Champion and four-time Northern Iowa all-American Joey Woody.
NEXT COMPETITION — The Hawkeyes will host the ninth-annual Iowa Musco Twilight Meet April 21 at Cretzmeyer Track in Iowa City. Teams scheduled to compete at the co-ed meet are Drake, Illinois-Chicago, Marquette, Minnesota, Northern Iowa, Western Illinois and Wisconsin. Starting times are 1 p.m. for “B” section field events, 3 p.m. for field event finals and “B” section and preliminary running events, and 6 p.m. for running event finals. Admission is $3 for adults. Youth and University of Iowa students will be admitted free of charge.
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