Jan. 10, 2015
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IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa track and field team captured six titles at the inaugural Border Battle on Saturday at the UI Recreation Building. The women’s team swept the meet with wins over Missouri (80-64) and Illinois (73-64), while the men’s team beat Missouri (85-70) and fell to Illinois (103-56).
“I thought it was a great event,” said Director of Track and Field Joey Woody. “We had a great turnout, and we got a good chance to see what people did over break.”
The women’s 1,600-meter relay team solidified double dual victories for the Hawkeyes. The relay team of sophomore Alexis Hernandez, junior Lake Kwaza, senior Adrianne Alexia and junior MonTayla Holder took the gold when they crossed the line in 3:50.96.
“I knew we had to come out on top in the 4X4 to win the team title, so I just went out there and did my job,” said Holder. “The first lap I was really focused on catching [Trost], and in the second lap I just focused on pulling further and further away.”
Holder also captured the women’s 600 meters title. The junior clocked a time of 1:31.72. Sophomore Elexis Guster clocked a personal-best time of 1:32.35 to finish third. Her time ranks ninth all-time at Iowa.
Aaron Mallett grabbed gold in the men’s 60-meter hurdles. The sophomore crossed the line in 8.04. Senior Keith Brown finished fourth in the event when he clocked a personal-best time of 8.08, a time that ranks eighth on Iowa’s all-time list.
Alana Jones ran to a first-place finish in the women’s 3,000 meters. The sophomore crossed the line in 10:13.84.
The Hawkeyes captured both shot put titles on the afternoon. Senior Gabe Hull (59-0 ¼; 17.99m) grabbed the men’s title, while sophomore Alexa Hunt recorded a personal-best toss of 46-8 ¾ (14.24m) to take the women’s title. Her mark ranks 10th all-time at Iowa. Sophomore Avery Meyers finished second in the men’s event with a personal-best toss of 58-4 ¾ (17.80m). His mark moves him into 10th on Iowa’s all-time list.
“I was really pleased to see the women come out on top,” said Woody. “The men have some work to do, but going up against Illinois gives us a good bench mark for us to go after. Everyone else is going to get better throughout the season, but we need to get better a lot quicker.”
The Hawkeyes tallied 15 second-place finishes on the afternoon. They include:
Women’s 60 meters – Lake Kwaza (7.44)
Women’s 60-meter hurdles – Jahisha Thomas (8.90)
Men’s 200 meters – Brendan Thompson (22.19)
Women’s 200 meters – Alexis Hernandez (26.07)
Men’s 400 meters – Mitch Wolff (49.35)*
Women’s 400 meters – Kaitlyn Nelson (59.90)
Men’s 600 meters – Kaleb VanCleave (1:21.44)
Men’s 1,000 meters – Will Teubel (2:27.10)
Women’s 1,000 meters – Shannon Maser (2:57.95)
Men’s Mile – Kevin Lewis (4:09.43)*
Men’s 4X400 – Wolff, Aly, Dorman, Teubel (3:20.94)
Women’s 4X400 – Guster, Watts, Nelson, Trost (3:53.07)
Men’s Shot Put – Avery Meyers (58-4 ¾; 17.80m)*
Women’s Shot Put – Claire Nolan (42-0; 12.80m)
Women’s Weight Throw – Leah Colbert (50-8 ¾; 15.46m)
*– Personal Best
Iowa returns to action Jan. 24 when it travels to Ames, Iowa for the Big Four Duals.
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