By DARREN MILLER
hawkeyesports.com
EUGENE, Ore. — This school is known for distance runners, that school has sprinters. This school focuses on jumps, that school emphasizes throws.
If there is anything that sticks out about the University of Iowa track and field program this season it should be the comprehensiveness of its success. Of the six coaches on staff, all six are represented this week with at least one student-athlete competing at the NCAA Championships.
When Joey Woody took the Hawkeye coaching baton from Larry Wieczorek in 2014, he wanted to continue fielding a complete program.
“That’s the best way to win as a team,” said Woody, who on June 4 was named Midwest Region Coach of the Year.
Under Woody, the Hawkeyes have done a lot of winning — 2019 Big Ten Men’s Outdoor Championship, 2021 Big Ten Men’s Indoor Championship, 2021 Big Ten Men’s Outdoor Championship. Iowa has 15 entries in Eugene (10 men, five women), tying the program record for the most entries since 2010.
“It is a credit to our coaching staff because everybody is involved in the whole process of us being successful,” Woody said. “To be able to get athletes to the national meet is the next step of competing to do big things at the national meet.”
But it isn’t easy. For men’s programs, a fully funded NCAA Division I team will have 12.6 scholarships and a women’s team has 18. That means the vast majority of track scholarships are given as partial scholarships. Not only are Iowa’s coaches recruiting well, they are also developing talent.
“Our success speaks more to the development of our athletes, not just recruiting good talent and putting them out on the track,” Woody said. “For us, it is more about getting good athletes and developing them. Being able to spread the wealth across all the event groups is a sign of that.”
