May 1, 2007
PARK RIDGE, IL –
Hawkeye senior thrower Adam Hamilton has been named Big Ten Field Event Athlete of the Week for his collegiate-best performance at the 98th annual Drake Relays last weekend.
Hamilton placed second in the hammer throw at Drake with a personal-best mark of 222-2. That distance ranks second in school history, and is only nine inches off the school record of 222-11 set by Arno van der Westhuizen in 2001. The mark also leads the Big Ten, and ranks second in the NCAA Midwest Region and eighth in the nation. Hamilton is the only competitor in the Big Ten to throw over 200 feet so far this season.
The Milford, NH, native is the third Hawkeye to earn a weekly conference award this season. Senior distance runner Micah VanDenend and sophomore thrower A.J. Curtis are the other two honorees. VanDenend was named co-Big Ten runner of the Week April 3 for his school-record setting time of 13:49.31 in the 5,000 meters at the Stanford Invitational. Curtis was named Big Ten Field Event Athlete of the Week April 10 for setting the school discus record of 202-11 at the Central College Invite. The previous record of 202-4 was set in 1986 by Gary Kostrubala. Curtis’ throw also set a meet record and smashed his previous personal best of 173-11 in that event. He and Kostrubala are the only two Hawkeyes in school history and two of four student-athletes in Big Ten history to throw over 200 feet in that event.
Iowa’s next competition will be at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships, set for May 11-13 at University Park, PA. Hamilton will try to defend the conference hammer throw title he won in 2006. If he does, he will become the 18th Hawkeye in school history to win consecutive Big Ten titles in the same event.
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