Hawkeye Fan Shop — A Black & Gold Store | 24 Hawkeyes to Watch 2016-17 | Hawk Talk Monthly — May 2017
Editor’s Note: The following first appeared in the University of Iowa’s Hawk Talk Daily, an e-newsletter that offers a daily look at the Iowa Hawkeyes, delivered free each morning to thousands of fans of the Hawkeyes worldwide. To receive daily news from the Iowa Hawkeyes, sign up HERE.
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — There is one day remaining in the 2017 Big Ten Track and Field Big Ten Championships. The decathlon, heptathlon and a handful of other events have finished and now one goal remains for the University of Iowa track and field team — to make the most of today’s finals.
Heading into Sunday, the Hawkeyes have a total of 48 men and women set to compete. As a team, the men are 10th with six points and the women are sixth with 25 points. Historically, Iowa has always been a final day team, which means the Hawkeyes expect to score points and close the gap.
“We wish we had a little bit more with some of the field events and finalists today,” UI director of track and field Joey Woody said. “We were in eighth place in 2011 going into the final day and ended up finishing first so a lot can happen.”
Iowa’s resurgence in the heptathlon was a pleasant surprise for the team this season and with two of the three athletes scoring points yesterday, the team has something to build off moving forward.
Sophomore Tria Seawater-Simmons had only been training in the multi-events since March and is now one of the conference’s best.
“It’s amazing for Tria to be able to pick up all these events and learn to hurdle in a matter of weeks,” Woody said. “She is now one of the best multi-event hurdlers in the conference. It speaks volumes to what kind of athlete she is.”
Seawater-Simmons and freshman Jenny Kimbro finished their first Big Ten heptathlons in sixth (5,205 points) and seventh (4,973 points), respectively. Seawater-Simmons jumps Kimbro in the all-time rankings to third, while Kimbro is now fourth.
The duo grabbed five points for the Hawkeyes.
“I’ve never witnessed anybody that has been able to learn all those events and then compete in all those events at such a high level.” Woody said.
Junior Brittany Brown and senior Aaron Mallett finished with the top times in prelims in the 200 meters and 110-meter hurdles, respectively, and will lead the pack of 13 qualifiers Sunday.
“We need to get things going early,” Woody said. “These championships are all about momentum. I always feel like if you have the momentum in your favor then people will ride that snowball effect and people will have bigger performances than they think they are capable of.”
The final day of the Big Ten Championships begin at 10:30 a.m. (CT) today with the trials and finals of the men’s triple jump. The meet will be streamed on BTN2Go in two sections from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and will resume at 12:45 p.m. |
