Hawkeye Fan Shop — A Black & Gold Store | Hawk Talk Monthly — May 2018 | 24 Hawkeyes to Watch 2017-18 | Track & Field Notebook
THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa track and field team opens the 2018 postseason at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships in Bloomington, Indiana, Friday through Sunday.
FOLLOW ALONG
Fans can follow results at hawkeyesports.com/tracklive. Notable results from each meet will be posted on the team’s official twitter account @iowaxc_tf. All live results links will be posted on the team’s schedule page at hawkeyesports.com.
BROADCAST INFO
FloTrack will provide a live stream of the Big Ten Outdoor Championships (subscription required).
ALL-BIG TEN RETURNEES
The Hawkeyes return five All-Big Ten performers from 2017, including Big Ten Champions Brittany Brown and Laulauga Tausaga.
- Brown was a Big Ten Champion in the 200 meters for the second consecutive year, running a wind-aided 22.30 in 2017. Brown was also named second-team All-Big Ten in the 100 meters after her 11.35 effort in the 100 meters.
- Tausaga won the first Big Ten discus championship in Iowa history with a facility-record setting throw of 180-feet, 5-inches (55 meters).
- Junior Mar’yea Harris was a second-team All-Big Ten performer with a runner-up finish in the 400 meters (45.71).
- Senior O’Shea Wilson is the only returner from Iowa’s second place 400-meter relay (39.75).
- Junior Reno Tuufuli earned a second place finish in the discus with a throw of 200-feet, 9-inches.
BIG TEN LEADERS
The Hawkeyes lead the Big Ten in seven events and one relay.
- Senior Brittany Brown: 200 meters (22.76)
- Junior Mar’yea Harris: 400 meters (45.71)
- Junior Andrea Shine: 10,000 meters (33:50.25)
- Sophomore Nathan Mylenek: 3,000-meter Steeplechase (8:48.66)
- Men’s 4×400 Meter Relay: 3:04.38 (Hofacker, Woodard, Frye, Harris)
- Senior Jahisha Thomas: Long Jump ( 6.44m, 21-1.5)
- Thomas: Triple Jump (13.32m, 43-8.5)
- Sophomore Laulauga Tausaga: Discus (59.86 meters, 196-5)
WILSON SET FOR FIFTH B1G CHAMPIONSHIPS
Senior O’Shea Wilson is set to compete in his fifth and final Big Ten Outdoor Championships. Wilson bursted onto the scene with a Big Ten Championship in the 400-meter relay in 2014. In 2017, Wilson earned second-team All-Big Ten honors with a second place finish in the 400-meter relay.
GUILLORY LOOKING FOR TITLE NUMBER 3
Junior Briana Guillory returns to the Big Ten Championships looking for her third Big Ten Outdoor title. The 2016 Big Ten Freshman of the Year won the 200 meters (22.95) and ran on Iowa’s 1,600-meter relay. During the 2018 indoor season, Guillory won the 400 meter Big Ten title and finished runner-up in the 200 meters. The Antioch, California, native then went on to place fifth in the country in the 400 meters at the NCAA Indoor Championships.
HAWKEYES WIN BACK-TO-BACK HY-VEE CUPS
The University of Iowa men’s track and field team captured its second consecutive Hy-Vee Cup at the 109th Drake Relays on April 28. Iowa tallied 32 total points, including a win in the 1,600-meter relay.
The Hy-Vee Cup is a competition over five relays — the 3,200-meter relay, sprint medley relay, distance medley relay, 400-meter relay, and 1,600-meter relay.
Iowa set the fourth-fastest time in program history in the 3,200-meter relay (7:28.33, 2nd place), the fifth-fastest time in the sprint medley relay (3:18.11, 2nd place), and the fifth-fastest time in the distance medley relay (9:50.70, 3rd place).
WHITE FLAGS WAVING
Iowa left the Drake Relays with Championship flags in four events – the men’s shot put, women’s shot put, women’s 400-meter hurdles, and 1,600-meter relay
Junior Reno Tuufuli captured his second Drake Relays championship after winning the discus in 2017. Tuufuli threw a season best mark of 60-feet, 8.5-inches (18.50 meters). Tuufuli is the third Hawkeye to win a Drake Relays shot put title in school history (Kemeny, 2004, Gambol, 1987).
Sophomore Laulauga Tausaga broke her own school record in the women’s shot put with a 64-foot, 11.25-inch throw in her final attempt. Tausaga grabs Iowa’s first white flag in the women’s shot put in Drake Relays history.
Senior Sommer Sharpe won her first Drake Relays title in the 400-meter hurdles. Sharpe ran 59.73 for the team’s third event title.
The men’s 1,600-meter relay of DeJuan Frye, Collin Hofacker, Chris Thompson, and Mar’yea Harris won Iowa’s second-straight 4×400 title. The Hawkeyes’ title in the 1,600-meter relay was their 11th win in Drake Relays history and their 3:05.05 is the fastest time recorded in Des Moines.
THE MORE YOU KNOW
- The men have crowned 132 Big Ten Outdoor Champions in their 106 year history.
- The women have won 32 Big Ten Outdoor Championships since 1982.
- Iowa’s most Big Ten Championships have come in the javelin throw with 11 titles. (Last by Matt Byers, 2012).
- Since Joey Woody took over the program in 2015, the women have won five Big Ten titles. Iowa won nine from from 2005-2014.
- Iowa has won multiple Big Ten titles every year since 2009.
- The men have won the 400-meter relay in three of the past six years.
NCAA LEADERS
Iowa has three athletes represented in the NCAA top 10.
- Sophomore Laulauga Tausaga: Discus (5th; 196-feet, 5-inches)
- Senior Jahisha Thomas: Long Jump (9th; 21-feet, 1.5-inches)
- Senior Will Dougherty: Decathlon (10th; 7,673 points)
HAWKEYES #1 IN TRIPLE JUMP
The Hawkeye women’s triple jump group is ranked No. 1 by USTFCCCA with a team average of 40-feet, 4.75-inches. The team is led by Jahisha Thomas who holds the 12th best jump in the NCAA at 43-feet, 8.5-inches followed by Tria Simmons at 39-feet, 10.75-inches.
NEXT ON THE BLOCK
The top 48 athletes in each event and top 24 relays and multi-event athletes qualify for the NCAA West Preliminary round in Sacramento, California, May 24-26.
