EUGENE, Ore. – University of Iowa track and field sophomore Austin West finished day two of decathlon action with a fifth-place finish (7886 points) and First Team All-America honors at the NCAA Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field. For the women, sophomore LaSarah Hargrove earned three Second Team All-America honors on the day (100 meters, 200 meters, 4×100-meter relay) and senior Erin Dowd became a Second Team All-American in the 400-meter hurdles.
The Hawkeyes combined for eight All-America honors Thursday and have totaled 12 so far this week. West earned his third All-America honor and his first-career First Team selection. The Iowa City native was a Second Team All-American indoors in 2021 and 2022 in the heptathlon.
“That event is a war of attrition,” Iowa Director of Track and Field Joey Woody said. “You don’t always have to PR every event to be in the mix and score a lot of points, especially a guy like him. Austin is the ultimate competitor and he just knows how to grind it like you have to as a multi-athlete. This is probably the deepest the decathlon has ever been, with the amount of guys with the ability to score over 8,000 points. Austin has big goals and I know he believes he can get up in that 8,500 range.”
Hargrove (11.20) took down Hawkeye great Brittany Brown’s 100-meter school record set in 2018 (11.28) and narrowly missed advancing to Saturday’s final (.09 seconds). She earned Second Team All-America honors with her 13th-place finish overall. In the 200 meters, Hargrove came up one spot shy of making Saturday’s final (10th) with a career-best time (22.72), also finishing as a Second Team All-American.
“You can’t be too upset with a woman who just took down a school record, and I was really proud of how she executed her race,” Woody said. “She had a really good start and beat some tremendous athletes. To come back and run a PR in that 200 and execute tremendously again, she had a great day. She’s really elevated that entire sprints group to a whole new level. I’m so excited about the future for all of those women.”
The women’s 4×100-meter relay team of Hargrove, freshman Lia Love, Dowd and sophomore Paige Magee finished 14th (43.79) to earn Second Team All-America honors. The quartet clocked its second-fastest time of the season, which is also the No. 2 all-time mark at Iowa.
In the 400-meter hurdles, Dowd (58.08) finished 16th to earn the first All-America honors of her career. Magee (59.69) finished 23rd to earn Honorable Mention All-America status.
“Erin got a little out of rhythm on the first hurdle and I think it took a lot out of her,” Woody said. “It’s unfortunate, but it doesn’t take away anything she’s done as an athlete for us in the short amount of time she’s been at Iowa. She’s done a tremendous job for our program in relays and everything and she’s going out as the No. 4 hurdler all-time in our program.”
The Hawkeyes return to Hayward Field tomorrow for day three of the NCAA Championships. Sophomore Jordan Johnson gets Iowa started with discus at 7:35 p.m. (CT), followed by junior James Carter, Jr. in the triple jump at 8:20 p.m. (CT) who will aim to improve on his Second Team All-America finish in the long jump on Wednesday. The final event of the week for the Hawkeyes is the men’s 4×400-meter relay at 10:21 p.m. (CT) Friday night.
HAWKEYE RESULTS:
Decathlon
5. Austin West – 7886 pts. (-571), First Team All-American
Day 1
100m – 7. West (10.83) +899 pts. (-97)
Long Jump – 5. West (7.31m / 23’11.75”) +888 pts. (-95)
Shot Put – 7. West (14.10m / 46’3.25”) +734 pts. (-180)
High Jump – 17. West (1.89m / 6’2.25”) +705 pts. (-343)
400m – 3. West (46.90) +963 pts. (-301)
Day 2
110m Hurdles – 13. West (14.91) +860 pts. (-425)
Discus – 4. West (42.72m / 140’2”), PR, +720 pts. (-528)
Pole Vault – 18. West (4.21m / 13’9.75”) +676 pts. (-618)
Javelin – 3. West (59.18m / 194’2”) +726 pts. (-538)
1500m – 10. West (4:34.38) +715 pts. (-571)
Women’s 4x100m Relay
14. Hargrove/Love/Dowd/Magee – 43.79, Second Team All-Americans
Women’s 100m
13. LaSarah Hargrove – 11.20, PR, School Record, Second Team All-American
Women’s 200m
10. LaSarah Hargrove – 22.72, PR, No. 2 all-time, Second Team All-American
Women’s 400m Hurdles
16. Erin Dowd – 58.08, Second Team All-American
23. Paige Magee – 59.69, Honorable Mention All-American