Jan. 16, 2010
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Video interview with L. Anderson | Video interview with L. Wieczorek
IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa track squads competed at the Iowa Invite today, hosting Central Methodist, Truman State, and Western Illinois at the UI Recreation Building.
Senior Alex Zona won the pole vault with a career-best mark of 16-4 3/4 (5.00m), which ranks fourth all-time at Iowa. Sophomore Matt Banse won the weight throw with a toss of 60-4 1/2 (18.40m), tied for sixth all-time at Iowa. Freshman Jordan Mullen qualified for the finals in the 60-meter hurdles by finishing with the eighth-best time in program history (8.25). Mullen went on to finish second in the finals (8.28). Freshman Jeffrey Herron won the men’s high jump with a collegiate-best leap of 6-10 1/4 (2.09m), a mark that ties him for 10th all-time at Iowa.
“I thought it went very well,” said Men’s Head Coach Larry Wieczorek. “Last week, we started against the University of Illinois and this weekend I think we stepped up. I really wanted to work on our competitiveness, being ferocious competitors was my phrase all week, and I think a lot of guys stepped up and did that.”
Iowa swept the top five spots in the women’s mile, with junior Amanda Hardesty out front with a collegiate best, 4:56.68. The Hawkeyes also swept the top four spots in the 800 meters, with junior Lauren Hardesty leading the pack with a time of 2:16.49. In the high jump, Iowa swept the top three spots with all three athletes tying collegiate best marks. Senior Caleigh Bacchus came out on top (1st, 5-08), followed by freshmen Megan Glisar (2nd, 5-06) and Eva Greenwalt (3rd, 5-02 1/4). Freshman Raven Moore came out strong in her collegiate debut, winning the 300-meter dash with a time of 40.99, barely edging out veteran junior Kara-Aretha Graham, who finished with a collegiate-best, 41.30. Iowa capped off the meet with a win in the 1,600-meter relay. Junior Tiffany Hendricks, Graham, sophomore Nicole Erickson and junior Kelsey Mims blew away the competition with a time of 4:00.76.
“I felt like it was a good solid start to the 2010 season,” said Women’s Head Coach Layne Anderson. “We had some outstanding performances. Caleigh Bacchus in the high jump was probably our shining star, Amanda Hardesty winning the mile looking strong with a good solid time. All in all, I think we have some athletes in some areas that have been absent in the past few years and I think it was evident that the girls did some good work over break.”
Former Hawkeye football and track standout Tim Dwight was at the meet, competing unattached in the 60 meters. During his time at Iowa, Dwight was an all-American and three-time Big Ten Champion in track and a two-time first team all-American in football.
“It’s been great,” said Dwight on his return to the University of Iowa campus. “You have a lot of memories on this oval, a lot of workouts. It always feels good to come home. Seeing coach Wieczorek is great, he was around when I was here, and seeing Joey [Woody] come on and raise the level of expectations for his athletes is exciting. It’s great to see these kids becoming more competitive.”
Up next for Iowa, competitors will be split on Jan. 23 between the Jack Johnson Classic in Minneapolis, MN, and the Razorback Invitational in Fayetteville, AK.