TEMPE, Ariz. — University of Iowa track and field kicks off its 2022 outdoor season at the Baldy Castillo Invitational in Tempe, Arizona, on March 18-19. The Baldy Castillo Invite begins Friday morning at 12:30 p.m. (CT) and resumes on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. (CT).
FOLLOW ALONG
Fans can follow the meet on the live results page at hawkeyesports.com/tracklive. Results will also be posted on the team’s official twitter account @iowaxc_tf.
HAWKEYES TOTAL 17 ALL-AMERICA HONORS AT 2022 NCAA INDOORS
The Hawkeye men sent the second-most entries (10) of any team in the country to the 2022 NCAA Indoor Championships, behind only Arkansas (11). Three Hawkeyes earned first team All-America honors in the 400 meters (Jenoah McKiver, runner-up; Chadrick Richards, 6th; Wayne Lawrence, Jr.; 7th) and Tyler Lienau finished eighth place in the weight throw to achieve first team All-America status. Additionally, two Hawkeyes finished as second team All-Americans in the 60-meter hurdles (Grant Conway, Gratt Reed). Kalen Walker (60 meters), Austin West (heptathlon) and Nik Curtiss (shot put) also ended their indoor seasons as second team All-Americans, as well as the 4×400-meter relay team of Richards, Julien Gillum, Lawrence, Jr., and McKiver. For the women, the 4×400-meter quartet of Mariel Bruxvoort, Payton Wensel, Tesa Roberts and Mallory King finished eighth to become first team All-Americans.
HAWKEYE MEN REPEAT AS INDOOR B1G CHAMPIONS
University of Iowa track and field won its second consecutive Men’s Big Ten Indoor Championships this winter. The Hawkeyes topped Ohio State by a 117-102 margin. The Hawkeye men tallied two Big Ten Champions (Jenoah McKiver, 600m; men’s 4×400-meter relay) and eight additional medalists at the 2022 B1G Indoor Championships. On the women’s side, sophomore LaSarah Hargrove earned two medals. Hargrove was the runner up in the 200 meters (23.55) and took third in the 60 meters (7.35). The Iowa women’s 4×400-meter relay ended the meet on a strong note. The quartet of junior Mariel Bruxvoort, seniors Payton Wensel and Mallory King and freshman Tesa Roberts took bronze (3:35.73).
JOEY WOODY: B1G INDOOR COACH OF THE YEAR
University of Iowa Director of Track and Field Joey Woody was named Big Ten Men’s Coach of the Year. Woody and the Hawkeyes defended their indoor conference title at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio, behind freshman Jenoah McKiver ’s 600-meter title and a win in the 4×400-meter relay (Everett Steward, Julien Gillum, Armando Bryson and McKiver). The Big Ten Championship was the fourth overall for Woody and the Hawkeyes since 2019 (’19 and ’21 outdoors, ’21 and ’22 indoors). Iowa opened the season ranked eighth in the country in the USTFCCCA National Rating Index and reached as high as No. 6 this season — the highest ranking in program history.
JENOAH MCKIVER: B1G TRACK ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Freshman Jenoah McKiver was named Big Ten Men’s Indoor Track Athlete of the Year at the conclusion of the 2022 indoor season. The High Point, North Carolina, native is the second Hawkeye ever to win the Big Ten honor indoors (Wayne Lawrence, Jr., 2020) and the seventh overall (indoor and outdoor). Former Hawkeye Jaylan McConnico was the last Hawkeye to earn a Big Ten Track Athlete of the Year honor (2021, outdoor). McKiver finished runner-up in the 400 meters (45.65) at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Birmingham, Alabama, on March 12, earning first team All-America honors. He also anchored the second team All-America 4×400-meter relay. McKiver finished as a Big Ten Champion in the 600 meters (1:15.67)
and as a member of the 4×400-meter relay back on February 26 at the Big Ten Indoor Championships in Geneva, Ohio. The Hawkeye had one of the best indoor seasons in Iowa history – breaking three school records in a two-week span. McKiver ran the seventh-fastest 600 meters ever collegiately (all tracks and surfaces) at the Meyo Invite (1:15.36). The following week at the Tyson Invite, he broke the 400-meter record (45.39) and anchored the school record 4×400-meter relay that bested the previous record by over two seconds (3:02.40) — the second-fastest time in the NCAA this season.
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. The Hawkeyes defended their indoor Big Ten title on the men’s side as well on Feb. 12, and aim to complete a title sweep once again this spring.
HAWKEYES MAKE HISTORY AT 2021 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.
MCCONICO NAMED B1G TRACK ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
Senior Jaylan McConico was named 2021 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.
COMPLETE TEAM
The Hawkeyes qualified a complete team to the 2021 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 2021 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.
2021 BIG TEN CHAMPIONS
The Hawkeyes 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 graduated 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.
THE HAWKEYES ARE RELAY GOOD
Iowa’s 4×400 relay registered a fifth-place performance at the 2021 NCAA Outdoor 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.
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).
Men’s Top Placers at 2021 NCAA Outdoor Championships
Event………………………… Athlete…………………………………………….. Mark………………….. Place
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
Event………………………… Athlete…………………………………………….. Mark………………….. Place
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.