T&F Final Notebook

HAWKEYES CHASE HISTORY AT NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
The University of Iowa track and field program completed the NCAA outdoor season with a 12th place finish for the men and a 26th place finish for the women at the 2021 NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Ore. The women had four athletes earn All-America honors in five events, scoring 11 team points. The men had 11 athletes earn All-America honors in nine events, scoring 19 team points, the most since 1967.

BACK-TO-BACK BIG TEN CHAMPIONS
The University of Iowa men’s track and field team captured the 2021 Big Ten Outdoor Championships title with a school record 127.5 points, besting runner-up Michigan by 33 points. The outdoor conference title was the second straight for the Hawkeyes. Iowa previously won the championship in Iowa City in 2019. The Hawkeyes won both the indoor and outdoor championship in the same year for the first time since 1963.

WOODY AND BRITT EARN BIG TEN HONORS
University of Iowa director of track and field Joey Woody was named Big Ten Men’s Track and Field Coach of the Year and Hawkeye junior Jamal Britt was named Big Ten Co-Athlete of the Championships. Woody was also named coach of the year following the indoor season. He is the first coach in program history to sweep the indoor and outdoor coach of the year awards. The conference honor is the third of his career. He was named Big Ten Outdoor Coach of the Year in 2019 following Iowa’s conference title.

Woody led Iowa to the 2021 Big Ten Outdoor Championship on May 16. The Hawkeyes scored a school-record 127.5 points, 33 points in front of second-place Michigan. The outdoor title was the second straight for Iowa, who won the 2019 championship in Iowa City, and completed the 2021 indoor-outdoor Big Ten championship sweep. The Hawkeyes had 15 medalists and crowned two Big Ten champions. Jaylan McConico won the 110-meter hurdles and Britt won the 400-meter hurdles.

Britt added a pair of silver medals to his gold in the 400 hurdles, contributing 26 points to Iowa’s record total. He placed second in the 110-meter hurdles and long jump. The Las Vegas, Nev., native is the first Hawkeye to be named Athlete of the Championships since Justin Austin in 2013.

MCCONICO NAMED B1G TRACK ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Senior Jaylan McConico was named Big Ten Men’s Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year. The Bolingbrook, Ill., native is the fifth Hawkeye in school history to earn the honor and first since Justin Austin in 2013. McConico helped lead the Hawkeyes to a 2021 Big Ten Outdoor Championship by winning an individual title in the 110-meter hurdles. He set a school record and tied the Big Ten Championship meet record with a time of 13.23. McConico finished second in the 110-meter hurdles to earn first-team All-America honors at the NCAA Championships, helping Iowa place 12th in the team race, it’s best finish since 1967. He also earned second team All-America honors as part of the 400-meter relay, placing 14th overall with a season’s best time of 39.48.

WOODY, TAUSAGA EARN USTFCCCA REGIONAL HONORS
Director of track and field Joey Woody and Hawkeye senior Laulauga Tausaga were named Midwest Region Men’s Coach of the Year and Midwest Region Women’s Field Athlete of the Year. The announcement was made June 4 by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

The USTFCCCA honor is the fifth of Woody’s career and second this season. He earned head coach honors following the 2021 indoor and 2019 outdoor seasons, and was named Midwest Region Assistant Coach of the Year in 2013 and 2011.

The USTFCCCA honor is the fourth of Tausaga’s career and only the fifth in program history. She was recognized following the 2019 indoor and outdoor seasons, and again after the 2020 indoor season. Kineke Alexander is the only other Hawkeye in school history to earn USTFCCCA regional honors (2007).

 

COMPLETE TEAM
The Hawkeyes qualified a complete team to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, as each of Iowa’s six coaches was represented by at least one student-athlete. The Hawkeyes qualified in sprints, hurdles, distance, jumps, throws, multi-events and relays.

15 ENTRIES TO NCAA FINAL SITE MATCHES PROGRAM BEST
The University of Iowa track and field team had 15 entries at the NCAA final site, tying the program record for the most entries since 2010, the year the NCAA altered the format for athletes to qualify and advance to the NCAA Championships. Iowa last had 15 entries in 2018. The Hawkeye men had 10 entries (eight individual events and two relays), matching their 2019 total and tying a program high. The Iowa women had five entries (five individual events), their most since having a program-best seven entries in 2018.

NCAA HISTORY
The Hawkeye men have eight top 10 NCAA Outdoor Championship finishes in program history, the last coming in 1932 (sixth). The Hawkeyes finished third on three occasions (1921, 1923 and 1930). In modern history, the Hawkeyes best NCAA finish was in 2021 when they placed 12th. Other top 25 finishes include 17th in 2017, 19th in 1995, 21st in 1993 and 21st in 1989. The Hawkeye women’s best finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships came in 2018, when they placed 13th with 19 points. Laulauga Tausaga scored 10 points that year, placing fourth in both shot put and discus. The women also placed in the top 25 in 2019 (25th), 2006 (20th), 1992 (19th) and 1985 (20th).

BIG TEN CHAMPIONS
The Hawkeye crowned four individual champions at the 2021 Big Ten Outdoor Championships. Laulauga Tausaga and Dallyssa Huggins both won gold for the women, and Jaylan McConico and Jamal Britt won gold for the men. Tausaga won her fifth career Big Ten title, winning the discus with a mark of 62.09 meters. She graduates with the school record in shot put and discus. Huggins set a career best 1.79 meters to win her first career gold medal in high jump. McConico brought home the championship in the 110 hurdles with a career best of 13.23, a mark that set a school record and tied the Big Ten Championship meet record. Britt took the silver medal with a time of 13.60, and later brought home the title in the 400 hurdles with a time of 49.69.

BIG TEN WEEKLY HONORS
Senior Laulauga Tausaga was named Big Ten Field Athlete of the Week two times this season. She swept the shot put and discus at the Big Ten North Florida Invitational on April 2-3. She won the shot put with a throw of 17.94 meters, then the No. 1 mark in the country. She won the discus with a mark of 59.24 meters. She also swept the discus and shot put evets at the Big Ten Invite #1 on March 26-27. Her discus mark of 60.81 meters led the country. Junior Jamal Britt was named men’s track athlete of the week after setting then-career bests in the 110-meter hurdles and 200 meters at the Big Ten Invite #1. He won the 110-meter hurdles in 13.68, and ran the 200 in 21.22. Senior Jaylan McConico was named men’s track athlete of the week following a pair of gold medal performances at the Billy Hayes Invite. He ran the lead leg on the winning 400-meter relay (39.68) and ran a then-personal best 13.42 in the 110-meter hurdles. Senior Karina Joiner earned women’s track athlete of the week honors following a win in the 100-meter hurdles at the Wisconsin B1G Invite on May 1.

THE HAWKEYES ARE RELAY GOOD
Iowa’s 4×400 relay registered a fifth-place performance at the NCAA Championships. Austin Lietz, Antonio Woodard, Julien Gillum, and Wayne Lawrence, Jr. recorded a season’s best time of 3:02.54, a mark that ranks third all-time in program history. It is the second straight NCAA Outdoor Championships that the men’s 4×400 relay earned first-team All-America honors. Iowa punched tickets to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in both the 4×100 and 4×400 relay. The 4×100 relay — McConico, Woodard, Reed and Kresley — placed 14th to earn second-team All-America honors. The 2021 season marks the eighth consecutive postseason that the Hawkeye men qualified a 4×100 relay to the NCAA Championships, and the fourth consecutive postseason that the Hawkeye men qualified a 4×400 relay to the NCAA Championships.

MEN’S TOP PLACERS AT NCAA OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
110-Meter Hurdles: Jaylan McConico 13.38, 2nd
110-Meter Hurdles: Jamal Britt 13.45, 4th
1,600-Meter Relay: Lietz, Woodard, Gillum, Lawrence, Jr. 3:02.54, 5th
Decathlon: Will Daniels 7,635 points, 7th
400 Meters: Wayne Lawrence, Jr. 45.94, 10th
Long Jump: James Carter 25-1 1/4 (7.65m), 10th
400-Meter Relay: McConico, Woodard, Reed, Kresley, 39.48 14th
400-Meter Hurdles: Jamal Britt 51.25, 20th
3,000 Steeplechase: Nathan Mylenek 8:47.86, 21st

WOMEN’S TOP PLACERS AT NCAA OUTDOOR CHAMPIONSHIPS
Discus: Laulauga Tausaga 208-5 (63.53m), 2nd
Shot Put: Laulauga Tausaga 56-8 3/4 (17.29m), 6th
Discus: Serena Brown 187-2 (57.06m), 10th
Shot Put: Kat Moody 54-7 1/2 (16.65m), 18th
Heptathlon: Jenny Kimbro 5,381 points, 18th

SCHOOL RECORDS
The Hawkeyes set five school records in 2021, three on the men’s side and two on the women’s side. Jaylan McConico ran 13.23 to win the Big Ten title in the 110-meter hurdles. Will Daniels scored a school-record 7,864 points while placing second in decathlon at the Big Ten Championships. Nathan Mylenek ran 8:35.21 to break the 3,000-meter steeplechase record and earn a silver medal at the Big Ten Championships. The women’s 100-meter hurdles school record was broken by both Paige Magee and Myreanna Bebe. Magee first broke the record with a mark of 13.17 at the Big Ten Championships. Two weeks later Bebe ran 13.12 to set a new standard at the NCAA West Regional. Amanda Howe set a school record in the hammer throw, landing at 62.65 meters (205-6) to win the Billy Hayes Invite.

IN THE CLASSROOM
Forty-nine Hawkeyes, including 20 men and 29 women, earned Academic All-Big Ten honors in 2021. To be eligible for Academic All-Big Ten selection, students must be on a varsity team, as verified by being on the official squad list as of May 1 for spring sports, who have been enrolled fulltime at the institution for a minimum of 12 months and carry a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or higher.

MARISSA MUELLER NAMED UI’S 22ND RHODES SCHOLAR
Senior Marissa Mueller was named a 2021 Rhodes Scholar by the Rhodes Trust and Rhodes Scholarships in Canada. Mueller, a native of Petrolia, Ontario, Canada, is only the 22nd UI student to receive the honor, the second female. She joins a class of over 100 from more than 60 countries worldwide to receive this distinguished scholarship to study at Oxford University next year. Mueller is majoring in biomedical engineering pre-med, with a cellular elective focus area. She graduated from Iowa in May, and beginning in the fall of 2021, she will spend two years studying stem cell and regenerative engineering at the University of Oxford in England.