May 29, 2010
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Iowa City, IA — The University of Iowa track teams completed the third and final day of competition Saturday at the NCAA West Region Preliminaries. Five more Hawkeyes earned bids to the NCAA Championships, including one relay team, bringing Iowa’s total qualifiers to ten. Nine individuals will compete in six events, consisting of five individual events and one relay.
Sophomore Betsy Flood and junior Lauren Hardesty finished back-to-back in the 1,500 meters at 10th (4:20.20) and 11th (4:20.40) overall to send them both to the NCAA Championships. Hardesty’s time is a collegiate-best, moving her up to fourth in the Iowa record books. This marks Hardesty’s first trip to the NCAA Championships, and Flood’s second having qualified during the 2009 indoor season in the 1,500 meters. The men’s 1,600-meter relay team will be heading to Eugene, OR, behind a seventh-seed finish of 3:05.84. The team consists of sophomores Patrick Richards, Erik Sowinski and juniors Chris Barton and Steven Willey. This relay squad came into this weekend ranked ninth in the West Region. Willey will also compete in the 400 meters, having qualified on Friday (45.78).
Other qualifiers this weekend include freshman Matt Byers in the javelin (220-9, 67.28m), sophomore Ryan Lamparek in the shot put (58-4, 17.78m), and senior Ray Varner in the 400-meter hurdles (50.42).
The top 12 seeds from both the East and West regions will meet in two weeks at the NCAA Championships in Eugene, OR. Four days of competition will begin on Wednesday, June 9.