Hawkeye Trio Advances At NCAA Championships

June 10, 2009

FAYETTEVILLE, AR — Hawkeye senior John Hickey and juniors Adam Hairston and Ray Varner accomplished their first mission of the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Fayetteville, AR, Wednesday by advancing out of the preliminary rounds in their respective individual events.

Hickey was the first Hawkeye to compete during the opening day of national competition, placing fourth in his heat of the men’s shot put and recording the 11th-best mark overall with a collegiate-best throw of 60-2 in his final attempt. Arizona State’s Ryan Whiting leads the field of 12 NCAA finalists with the throw of 68-7 1/4 he recorded in his first attempt. Hickey will go for his third career all-America honor in the shot put Thursday at 6:15 p.m. (CT). To earn all-America honors, Hickey must either finish in the top eight of the finals or be one of the top eight Americans to place in the event.

Hairston placed third in his heat of the men’s 800 meters to automatically advance to Thursday’s semifinal race. He clocked a collegiate-best 1:48.53 in the prelims, which ranks third all-time at Iowa. That time ranks 12th overall in the semifinal field of 18 runners. Penn State’s Ryan Foster leads the semifinal field with the 1:47.57 he posted in the prelims. The semifinal race is set to start at 7:25 p.m.

Varner placed fifth in his men’s 400-meter hurdles prelim heat with a 50.81, which was the 17th-fastest in the field of 18 semifinalists. Lee Moore of Mississippi leads the semifinalists with the 49.87 he ran in the prelims. The semifinal race is set to start at 7 p.m.

“We had an outstanding first day,” said University of Iowa Head Men’s Track and Field Coach Larry Wieczorek. “All three of our competitors posted strong performances to move on to Thursday’s competition.”

Hawkeye sophomore Karessa Farley and freshman Betsy Flood will join Hickey, Hairston and Varner in Thursday’s NCAA competition at the University of Arkansas’ John McDonnell Field. Farley will run in the prelims of the women’s 100-meter hurdles at 5:30 p.m., while Flood will run in the prelims of the women’s 1,500 meters at 7:55 p.m. Iowa’s sixth NCAA qualifier – senior Renee White – will compete in the first round of the women’s triple jump Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. Fans can follow meet results live at www.arkansasrazorbacks.com.

IOWA’S NCAA OUTDOOR TRACK & FIELD CHAMPIONSHIPS WEDNESDAY RESULTS
Men’s Shot Put Preliminary Results – Top 12 Qualifiers Advance To Thursday’s Event Final
1. Ryan Whiting (Arizona State) 68-7 1/4
2. Zack Lloyd (Arizona) 63-11 3/4
3. Kemal Mesic (Florida) 63-1 1/2
4. Milan Jotanovic (Manhattan) 62-5 3/4
5. Steve Marcelle (Georgia Tech) 61-5 3/4
6. Jason Cook (South Carolina) 60-11 1/4
7. Derek McGuire (Mississippi) 60-8 3/4
8. Kemuel Morales (Texas State) 60-6 3/4
9. Aaron Studt (Minnesota) 60-5 3/4
10. Beau Burroughs (Florida) 60-0 1/4
11. John Hickey (Iowa) 60-2
12. Nate Hunter (Northeastern) 59-11 3/4

Men’s 800-Meter Preliminary Results – Top 18 Qualifiers Advance to Thursday’s Event Semifinal
1. Ryan Foster (Penn State) 1:47.57
2. Sean Tully (Villanova) 1:47.59
3. Richard Jones (LSU) 1:47.62
4. Tevan Everett (Texas) 1:47.77
5. Chris Gowell (Baylor) 1:47.87
6. Lance Roller (Virginia) 1:47.88
7. Cory Primm (UCLA) 1:47.99
8. Tyler Mulder (Northern Iowa) 1:48.00
9. Dominic Tanui (Texas-El Paso) 1:48.01
10. Donte Holmes (Delaware State) 1:48.05
11. Alex McClary (Arkansas) 1:48.24
12. Adam Hairston (Iowa) 1:48.53
13. Zach Beth (Wisconsin) 1:48.57
14. Jason Collett (Kansas State) 1:48.65
15. Robert Novak (Seton Hall) 1:48.85
16. Andrew Wheating (Oregon) 1:49.42
17. Carlos Phillips (Florida) 1:49.65
18. Irek Sekretarski (USC) 1:49.77

Men’s 400-Meter Hurdles Preliminary Results – Top 18 Qualifiers Advance to Thursday’s Even Semifinal
1. Lee Moore (Mississippi) 49.87
2. Justin Gaymon (Georgia) 50.07
3. Jeshua Anderson (Washington State) 50.12
4. Amaechi Morton (Stanford) 50.37
5. Alie Beauvais (Albany) 50.41
6. Johnny Dutch (South Carolina) 50.47
7. Toby Ulm (Georgetown) 50.49
8. Leslie Murray (Delaware State) 50.54
9. Barry Leavitt (Washington State) 50.55
10. Kirland Thornton (Nebraska) 50.57
11. Cory Goos (Northern Iowa) 50.59
12. Javier Garcia-Tunon (Florida State) 50.61
13. Adam Dailey (Nebraska) 50.71 (50.707)
14. Lane Dennis (Sam Houston State) 50.71 (50.708)
15. Emmanual Mayers (Mississippi State) 50.71 (50.710)
16. Joe Greene (Albany) 50.73
17. Ray Varner (Iowa) 50.81
18. Dan Harmsen (Michigan) 51.02