By RYAN CLEVENGER
hawkeyesports.com
IOWA CITY, Iowa — On March 13, 2020, the Big Ten Conference announced that along with the 2020 Men’s Basketball Tournament, “it will be canceling all conference and non-conference competitions through the end of the academic year, including spring sports.”
That news ended the season for all and seemingly looked like it could end the careers of Iowa’s 2020 seniors. Fortunately, for the graduating class at the University of Iowa, the NCAA, Big Ten Conference, and UI administration extended the “competition clock” of those who would have otherwise exhausted their eligibility.
What does that mean? It means the indoor men’s Big Ten champion, and a Hawkeye women’s team that placed third at the 2021 conference meet will be even stronger when the 2021 outdoor season begins Friday, March 26.
The Hawkeyes have 17 seniors on the roster who were not allowed to complete their outdoor eligibility last spring. The group includes one national champion, 15 All-America performances, four school-record holders, and 31 Big Ten Championship medals.
The women’s group includes Tia Saunders, Laulauga Tausaga, Jenny Kimbro, Courtney Strohman, Karina Joyner, Erin Dowd, Allison Wahrman, and Serena Brown.
The men’s group includes Will Daniels, Tysen VanDraska, DeJuan Frye, Ray Clarke, Austin Lietz, Dan Soto, Nathan Mylenek, Jaylan McConico, and Antonio Woodard.
Laulauga Tausaga holds the school record in the indoor and outdoor shot put, weight throw, hammer throw, and discus (two indoor and three outdoor). Tausaga is a five-time All-American and captured the national championship in the discus throw with a mark of 207’6” (63.26m) at the 2019 NCAA Outdoor Championships. Tausaga also won the discus and the hammer throw at the 2019 Big Ten Championships.