THIS WEEK
University of Iowa track and field competes at the Big Ten Indoor Championships at The Spire in Geneva, Ohio, on Feb. 24-25. The weekend begins on Friday with the Heptathlon at 9:40 a.m. (CT), while the running events start with the men’s mile at 11:40 a.m. Competition resumes Saturday with the continuation of the Heptathlon at 10 a.m. and the finals of the men’s mile at 12:20 p.m. The men’s team looks to win the Big Ten Indoor Championships for the third consecutive year.
FOLLOW ALONG
Fans can follow the meet on the Meet Day page at hawkeyesports.com/tracklive. The meet will be streamed on BTN+. Results will also be posted on the team’s official twitter account @iowaxc_tf.
LAST TIME OUT
University of Iowa track and field concluded the indoor season at the Iowa Open on Feb. 17. Junior Austin Kresley kicked off the day with a career best in the 60-meter dash preliminary round (6.71), before running it back and posting the second-fastest time in program history (6.64) in the finals. In the 60-meter hurdles, junior Grant Conway tied his personal best (7.69) that ranks fourth all-time at Iowa. Six Hawkeyes won their respective events, including Kresley in the 60-meter dash, Conway in the 60-meter hurdles, junior Myreanna Bebe in the 60-meter hurdles (8.15), junior Tionna Tobias with her career best in the high jump (1.70 meters, 5’ 5”), redshirt freshman De’Anna Robinson in the long jump (5.21 meters, 17’ 1.25”), senior Ianna Roach in the shot put (14.78 meters,48’ 6”) and Kayla Hutchins with a season best in the triple jump (12.21 meters, 40’ 0.75”).
A LOOK BACK
The Iowa Hawkeye men’s team won the Big Ten Indoor Championships last year, edging second place Ohio State 117-102. It was the second consecutive Big Ten team title for the Hawkeye men. Iowa had two champions (Jenoah McKiver – 600 meters; 4×400 relay – Steward, Gillum, Bryson, McKiver). Eight Hawkeyes medaled and 14 athletes reached the podium. The women’s team placed sixth with 59 points and was led by LaSarah Hargrove, who medaled in the 60-meter and 200-meter. Iowa placed third in the women’s 4×400. 13 additional Hawkeyes made the podium.
IN THE RANKINGS
University of Iowa men’s track and field moved to No. 22 in the USTFCCCA national rankings. The men’s team is ranked atop the Midwest region, while the women’s team ranks third. Entering the Big Ten Championships, Iowa ranks first in the men’s conference standings, with the women ranking fifth. Both the men’s and women’s teams are nationally-ranked within the top-20 in seven event groups, including three groups in the top-five on each side. The men are ranked in the 60-meters, 60-meter hurdles, 200-meters, 400-meters, high jump, long jump and shot put. The women are ranked in the 60-meters, 60-meter hurdles, 200-meters, 400-meters, 800-meters, shot put and weight throw.
BOOKIN-NOSBISCH TOPS THE BOARD
Junior Alli Bookin-Nosbisch rose to the top of the Iowa record books in the Music City Challenge women’s 800-meter race, breaking the tape in 2:04.28 and the school record set last year by Mallory King. The Ottumwa, Iowa, native broke through to the top of Hawkeye history after steadily moving up the rankings this season. Bookin-Nosbisch finished third overall in the event.
HAACK SOARS TO SCHOOL RECORD
Junior Peyton Haack put together a lifetime performance in the men’s heptathlon at the Razorback Invitational on Jan. 28. Haack, a junior from Westfield, Indiana, used personal records in the long jump, shot put, high jump and pole vault on his way to the earning the school record with 6,007 points. Haack tied for the title in the pole vault (5 meters; 16’ 4.75”), while winning the 60-meter hurdles section outright (7.95).
BEBE SHATTERS 14-YEAR RECORD
Myreanna Bebe highlighted the Larry Wieczorek on Jan. 21 by breaking a school record that was set in 2009. Bebe registered a speedy time of 8.11 in the 60-meter hurdles, which also ranks seventh nationally. Her mark shattered the previous record set by Karessa Farley (8.21) and improved on her previous best, which was set earlier in January at the Hawkeye Invitational (8.22).
MEET THE RECORD HOLDERS
11 Hawkeyes account for nine indoor school records. They include:
Kalen Walker – 60 meters (6.61)
Jenoah McKiver – 400 meters (45.39) | 600 meters (1:15.36)
Chadrick Richards, Julien Gillum, McKiver – 4×400 meter relay (3:02.40)
LaSarah Hargrove – 60 meters (7.25)
Mariel Bruxvoort & Tesa Roberts – 4×400 meter relay (3:32.38)
Myreanna Bebe – 60-meter hurdles (8.11)
Peyton Haack – Heptathlon (6,007 points)
Alli Bookin-Nosbisch – 800 meters (2:04.28)
* bold = set this season
HURDLE U.
Junior Grant Conway picked up where he left off last season, tying his season-best time of 7.69 in the 60-meter hurdles at the Iowa Open. He currently ranks ninth, nationally, in the event. Conway (7.72) and junior Gratt Reed (7.72) each qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships on March 11-12 of 2022 after they each put down personal-best times at the Big Ten Championships. Conway finished as Big Ten runner-up and Reed took bronze. Junior Myreanna Bebe broke the 60-meter hurdles school record at the Larry Wieczorek on Jan. 21 (8.11). Junior Paige Magee ranks second in school history following her 8.13 performance at the New Mexico Classic on Feb. 4.
LEADING THE WAY
After narrowly missing the NCAA indoor championships, senior sprinter LaSarah Hargrove returned for a chance to break into the field in the 60-meter and 200-meter events. Hargrove holds the 60-meter school record with a time of 7.25. Senior Amanda Howe looks to build on her 2022 Big Ten Outdoor Championship performance by taking things to the next level in the weight throw. Junior Tionna Tobias has shown improvement in different field events in preparation for the pentathlon. Tobias holds a team-best mark of 6.14 meters (20’ 1.75”) in the long jump. Fellow junior Paige Magee aims to jump back to the top of the Big Ten in the 60-meter hurdles, after taking gold at the 2021 B1G Indoor Championships.
BIG TEN COACH OF THE YEAR
Iowa Director of Track and Field Joey Woody earned his fourth-consecutive Big Ten Coach of the Year honor on March 2 after leading the Hawkeye men to their second-consecutive Big Ten Indoor Championship. In 2021, Woody became the first coach in program history to sweep the indoor and outdoor coach of the year awards. Iowa completed a Big Ten Championship sweep on the men’s side for the first time since 1963 — its outdoor title marking two-in-a-row.
FIVE MORE YEARS
Director of Track and Field and Cross Country Joey Woody received a contract extension through June 2027. Woody, an Iowa City native and World Champion, is in his ninth season at the helm of Iowa track and field. He is a four-time Big Ten Coach of the Year and a six-time USTFCCCA Regional Coach of the Year. Since arriving on campus, Woody has led Iowa to 49 Big Ten individual titles, 12 conference relay titles, four men’s Big Ten team titles, four Big Ten Athletes of the Year, and 199 All-America honors.
NEXT ON THE BLOCK
The Hawkeyes prepare for the NCAA Indoor Championships at the Albuquerque Convention Center in Albuquerque, N.M., on Mar. 8-11.