Sept. 8, 2008
THIS WEEK — The men and women’s cross country teams will face Northern Iowa in the Iowa Invite September 12th at Ashton Cross Country Couse. The women will race a 3,000 meter course and will start at 6 p.m. with the men running a 6,000 meter race at approximately 6:30 p.m.
HAWKEYE INVITE RESULTS — The Hawkeye men and women runners opened the season with wins in the Hawkeye Invite. The women participated in a 3,000 meter race and the men ran 6,000 meters. The women finished with seven of the top 10 times in the 3K. Senior Racheal Marchand (2nd, 10:25.83) led the Hawkeyes and posted a new personal best. The men claimed the top three individual times in the 6K, with freshman Nick Holmes (18:33.23) winning in his Hawkeye debut. Junior Jesse Luciano (18:40.03) finished second with a personal best time.
IOWA WOMEN’S COACH Layne Anderson — Anderson is in his sixth season as the women’s cross country head coach. In his five years, the Hawkeyes have reached a level of success not seen since the 1980’s. The Hawkeyes qualified for the NCAA Championships in 2006 for the first time in 14 years, and then qualified again in 2007. The Hawkeyes finished 5th in the 2007 Big Ten Championship, the team’s highest finish since 1993, and placed third in the NCAA Midwest Regional the last two years. The team has earned academic all-American honors all five seasons with 26 Hawkeyes earning academic all-Big Ten honors. Anderson holds two degrees from The Citadel: a bachelor’s (1989) and masters of education (1991), both in health and physical education. Anderson and his wife, Alexis, have a son, Sawyer.
IOWA MEN’S COACH Larry Wieczorek — Wieczorek is in his 22nd season as the men’s cross country coach. Under Wieczorek, the Hawkeyes placed sixth or higher 10 times at the NCAA Regional championships, posted 31 all-region selections and qualified for the NCAA championship five times. In 2002, the Hawkeyes won the NCAA Regional for the first time in school history and Wieczorek was named Midwest Region Coach of the Year by the United States Cross Country Association. Wieczorek is a six-time Big Ten champion (two in cross country) and four time all-American at Iowa. He was also part of the last Big Ten track championship team (1967). He earned a B.S. degree in physical education from Iowa (1969) and a M.S. degree from Northern Illinois University (1973). His wife’s name is Jackie.
NEXT TIME OUT — The women’s squad will head to Chicago for the Lakefront Invite on September 27th. The men will either join them or will head to Minneapolis for the Roy Griak Invitational.