IOWA T&F NOTEBOOK: Musco Twilight

THIS WEEK

University of Iowa track and field hosts its only outdoor meet of the season on Sat., April 23 in Iowa City at the Francis X. Cretzmeyer Track. Action is tentatively scheduled to begin at noon (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.

WEST AMONG THE BEST

Sophomore decathlete Austin West produced a record-setting week in the Golden State at the Mt. SAC Relays. West broke the 8,000-point plateau for the first time in his career (8,179) – breaking the Iowa school record and finishing runner-up to Arkansas indoor heptathlon national champion Ayden Owens in one of the best decathlons in NCAA history. West’s point total is No. 4 in the world this year and second in the NCAA behind Owens – who set the all-time collegiate record and world lead. West’s 8,179 points ranks him as the 24th-best performer in NCAA history. West set personal-best marks in seven of the 10 events, including a personal best of 46.41 in the 400 meters – a time that before this season would have ranked tenth all-time at Iowa.

NATION’S BEST GETS NATIONAL RECOGNITION

Sophomore sprinter Jenoah McKiver picked up right where he left off this indoor season in his outdoor debut at the Jim Click Shootout on April 9. The two-time All-American and indoor NCAA 400-meter runner-up ran a jaw-dropping 44.74 to make him the fastest quarter-miler in Iowa history undisputedly, as he now owns the indoor and outdoor 400-meter records. His time wasn’t just a school record, it was good for the NCAA lead and No. 2 in the world for 2022. He doubled back and split 43.8 as the anchor on Iowa’s 4×400-meter relay that is No. 5 in the NCAA and third-fastest ever at Iowa. The national media took notice as he was named USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Week.

LaSPEEDY HARGROVE

Sophomore LaSarah Hargrove broke the Iowa 60-meter record this indoor season (7.25) and put down a blistering time in the 100 meters in her outdoor season debut on March 19 at the Baldy Castillo Invite. Hargrove ran a wind-aided mark of 11.13 to win the 100 meters — a mark good enough for a school record, but was just outside of the wind-legal threshold. The speedy sophomore continues to challenge to take down the record (11.28). Hargrove added to her hot start of the outdoor season with a win in the 200 meters (22.79) at the Jim Click Shootout (April 9). Her time was No. 2 all-time at Iowa and ninth-fastest in the NCAA this season. Hargrove qualified seventh-fastest (11.37) in the prelims and made the 100-meter final at the Mt. SAC Relays, finishing eighth (11.38). Her 11.37 preliminary time moved her to fourth all-time at Iowa and was a wind-legal personal best.

JUMP, JUMP, JUMP!

Returning men’s outdoor long jump All-American junior James Carter, Jr. won the triple jump at the Jim Click Shootout (April 9) with the 18th-best mark in the country this year (15.84m / 51’11.75). Carter, Jr. improved his lifetime-best in the long jump at the Mt. SAC Relays last weekend (7.81m / 25’7.5”) — a jump ranked fifth-furthest ever at Iowa and 17th in the NCAA this year.

STILL GETTING BETTER

Junior Alec Still was already one of the best 800-meter runners in program history, but at the Bryan Clay Invitational he dropped nearly a full second off of his lifetime-best (1:47.50) to finish fifth in a field of 196 athletes and cement his status as one of the fastest 800-meter Hawkeyes ever. Still moved to No. 4 all-time at Iowa with his Big Ten-leading time that ranks 16th in the NCAA this year.

HURDLE U

Senior Erin Dowd (57.47) won the 400-meter hurdles at the Baldy Castillo Invite (March 19) in her outdoor Hawkeye debut – a mark good for fourth all-time at Iowa. At Western Michigan, Dowd was a two-time MAC champion in the 400-meter hurdles, and placed third at the 2018 Drake Relays. Dowd improved her personal best to 57.27 with a third-place finish at the Mt. SAC Relays. Dowd’s time leads the Big Ten and is 12th-fastest in the NCAA this season. Junior Mariel Bruxvoort, senior Payton Wensel and freshman Paige Magee have run the fifth (57.73), sixth (57.77) and eighth (58.26) fastest 400-meter hurdle times in school history this year. The 400-meter hurdle event squad ranks atop the nation in the USTFCCCA Rankings. In the 100-meter hurdles, Myreanna Bebe’s season-best time (13.35) is fourth in the Big Ten and 35th in the NCAA this year.

Three men’s high-hurdlers rank inside the top-38 in the nation this season. At the Baldy Castillo Invite (March 19), Josh Braverman finished runner-up in the 110-meter hurdles (13.74), ranking 21st in the NCAA. Sophomore Grant Conway won the Jim Click Shootout (April 9) in 13.81, clocking in at No. 29 in the nation. Sophomore Gratt Reed’s season best time (13.87) is 38th fastest this season. As a unit, the men are ranked second in the USTFCCCA event squad rankings. The 400-meter hurdle group is ranked second in the event squad rankings as well, due to five men with times under 52 seconds – with four ranked inside the NCAA top-50 this year. Drake Woody is currently 28th (51.20), Julien Gillum is 33rd (51.33), Phillip Jefferson is 35th (51.36) and Nathan Farrell is 49th (51.65). Raymonte Dow is just outside the top-50, at 60th (51.86).

KALEN WALKER: RECORD BREAKER

Sophomore Kalen Walker tied the 60-meter school record in his indoor debut as a Hawkeye this winter before ultimately claiming the top spot (6.61) and ending his season as a second-team All-American. Walker kept the trend going in his outdoor debut at the Baldy Castillo Invite (March 19), breaking Justin Austin’s 2011 100-meter record (10.21). Walker ran 10.20 — good for 34th in the NCAA and second in the Big Ten this season. At the Jim Click Shootout on April 9, he came out of blocks for the school-record setting 4×100-meter relay (39.03) – the No. 8 time in the NCAA this season.

THE HAWKEYES ARE RELAY, RELAY GOOD

Iowa’s relays put on a show at the Jim Click Shootout (April 9) with the women’s 4×100-meter relay (Hargrove, Love, Dowd, Magee) getting things started by running the second-fastest time in program history (44.06) – just two-hundredths of a second off of the school record. The men’s 4×100-meter relay (Walker, Kresley, Reed, K. Jefferson) followed by breaking the school record (39.03) – eighth-fastest in the NCAA this year. The 4×400-meter relays had similar results, as the women (Bruxvoort, Roberts, Wensel, Dowd) ran the fourth-fastest time in school history (3:35.40), improving their time at the Mt. SAC Relays (3:35.08). The men (Steward, Bryson, Gillum, McKiver) capped off the Jim Click with the third-fastest time ever at Iowa (3:02.39) – clocking in at No. 9 in the NCAA this season. The 2021 season marked 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.

IOWA STRONG

Indoor shot put school-record holder Nik Curtiss started the outdoor season with a win in shot put at the Baldy Castillo Invite (March 19). The senior moved to sixth all-time on Iowa’s outdoor list (18.84m / 61’9.75”) with a mark that ranks 26th nationally this season. Curtiss also cracked the top-10 list in the hammer throw (58.62m / 192’4”), and teammate senior Tyler Lienau finished third (60.52m / 198’6”) at Baldy Castillo. Sophomore Jordan Johnson won discus on April 9 at the Jim Click Shootout with a mark (56.06m / 183’11”) that ranks third in the Big Ten. On the women’s side, sophomore Kat Moody won discus at the Jim Click Shootout (52.42m / 172’0”) – good for 47th in the nation and sixth in the conference.

200-METER MUSCLE

Freshman Khullen Jefferson finished second in the 200 meters (20.83) to Olympian Fred Kerley at the Baldy Castillo Invite (March 19), recording a lifetime best. Freshman Austin Kresley (20.83) and sophomore Gratt Reed (20.92) each ran lifetime-bests at the Florida Relays (April 9). Jefferson finished ninth at the Mt. SAC Relays with a wind-aided mark of 20.74 that ranks 42nd in the NCAA this season.