Hawkeye Alumni Make National, International Waves

July 18, 2011

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IOWA CITY, Iowa — A pair of former Big Ten track and field champions recorded top 3 finishes in national and international competition last weekend.

Former Big Ten shot put champion Shane Maier finished second at the United States Weightlifting Championships in the 105k-plus weight class in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The Storm Lake, Iowa, native recorded a combined total of 368 kilos (811 lbs.), including a snatch score of 165 kilos (364 lbs.) and a clean and jerk best of 203 kilos (447 lbs.).

Maier was an Iowa letterwinner from 2004-08. He won the Big Ten indoor shot put title in 2007 and ranks third on Iowa’s all-time performers list in both the indoor and outdoor shot put. He is training for the opportunity to represent Team USA at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

Former Hawkeye Peaches Roach won the high jump and 200 meters en route to a third place finish in the heptathlon at the Central American and Caribbean Track and Field Championships in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico.

Roach, Jamaica’s top multi-event qualifier, was a four-time track and field All-American and five-time Big Ten Champion in the high jump while competing for the Hawkeyes from 2004-07. She is the only Hawkeye in program history to win five Big Ten titles in one event.

Roach continues to train on the UI campus for the opportunity to represent Jamaica in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.