March 28, 2011
- Big Ten Championships – Iowa City, Iowa
- Download your Iowa Hawkeye iPhone app!
- Iowa and the Big Ten Network
- Big Ten Network: Free Hawkeye Video
- 24 Hawkeyes to Watch
Complete Release in PDF Format
THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa track and field team travels to Baton Rouge, La., to compete in the LSU Invite Saturday. The invite will be held at the Bernie Moore Stadium.
IOWA WOMEN RUN AT STANFORD
The women’s track team sent competitors to the Stanford Invite last weekend. Junior Betsy Flood was the top Iowa performer of the weekend, posting a time of 16:16.41 in the women’s 5,000 meter run.
Junior Danielle Berndt was the lone Hawkeye to run the 3k steeplechase. The Bloomington, Minn., native posted a career best time of 10:51.21 to take seventh place in the race.
Junior Brooke Eilers paced the Hawkeyes in the 5,000 meter run. Eilers crossed the finish line in 16:29.47 to place fourth in the event and etch her name into the top-performers list at eighth. McKenzie Melander, an All-American miler, posted a time of 16:30.63, a career best time and the ninth best performance in Iowa history.
OUTDOOR SEASON AT A GLANCE
The Hawkeyes will compete in seven meets prior to the Big Ten Championships, including the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, April 28-30.
Iowa is set to host the Musco Twilight XII meet April 23. The event will take place at the Francis X. Cretzmeyer Track.
The Hawkeyes will also be hosting the 2011 Big Ten Outdoor Championships. The three day event will begin Friday, May 13 and continue through Sunday, May 15.
Fans can stay up to date on all the championship information throughout the outdoor season by visiting the championship central site on hawkeyesports.com.
Layne Anderson
Layne Anderson is in his third year as head coach of the University of Iowa women’s track and field team. He has served as the Hawkeyes’ head women’s cross country coach for the past seven seasons, and was the interim head women’s track and field coach in 2008.
From 2003-07, he served as an assistant women’s track and field coach for the Hawkeyes.
Larry Wieczorek
Larry Wieczorek is in his 24th season as head men’s cross country coach and his 15th season as head men’s track and field coach at the University of Iowa. He served as an assistant track and field coach for 12 years before taking the helm in 1997.
Last season, Wieczorek guided 28 qualifiers, made up of 20 student-athletes competing in 13 individual events and two relays, to the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
INDOOR NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
The men’s and women’s track and field teams had exceptional indoor seasons that included 10 NCAA Championship qualifiers and All-America honorees.
The men’s team placed eighth at the national championships, the highest an Iowa men’s team has ever finished. The Hawkeyes boasted eight men among the top-10 athletes in the country. Noteably, Erik Sowinski placed fourth in the men’s 800 meter run and aided the 1,600-meter relay team in a fourth place finish.
The Iowa women’s team was represented by school record holders Bethany Praska and McKenzie Melander. Praska placed seventh in the final run of the 800 meters and Melander finished 15th in the women’s mile run.
Ten Hawkeye student-athletes earned All-America honors after their superb performances in the national spotlight.
COMING UP
The Hawkeyes travel to Tempe, Ariz. for the Sun Angel Classic April 8-9.