Hawkeyes Close Weekend at Tom Jones, Beach Invite, Bryan Clay

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – University of Iowa track and field competed at three locations across the nation on Saturday. 

The Hawkeyes closed out the Tom Jones Memorial Invitational hosted by the University of Florida, one of the most competitive meets nationally this week.  

In the men’s 4×100, the group of senior Kalen Walker, senior Austin Kresley, senior Joe Stein and junior Kalil Johnson made their debut together this season with a 39.55 result to place 11th. 

Walker, Kresley and Stein returned to action in the men’s 100 meters later on Saturday afternoon. Walker placed seventh with a time of 10.28, and Kresley finished 23rd with a time of 10.45. 

In the women’s 400 meters, freshman Olicia Lucas posted a career-best 54.38 to place fifth. 

 It was one of two personal records in Gainesville, along with freshman Ali Frandsen racing 14.62 in the 100 hurdles to place 20th. Senior Katie Petersen placed 10th in the 100 hurdles, racing 14.02.

In the men’s 110 hurdles invite, freshman Kai Graves-Blanks ran 13.82 to finish in 15th place. 

Senior Alli Bookin-Nosbisch ran 2:03.68 to place ninth in the women’s 800 meters. That time finished less than half a second behind Bookin-Nosbisch’s program record set last time out at the Florida Relays. 

 Iowa also competed well in the 800 meters at the Beach Invite in Long Beach, California. In the women’s 800, senior Clare Pitcher placed fifth racing 2:12.15, and senior Grace Bookin-Nosbisch was seventh in 2:13.07.

In the men’s 800, sophomore Ryan Schreiner took seventh, racing 1:52.15. Fifth-year Chase Lovercheck ran 1:54.29 to take 15th. 

At the Bryan Clay Invitational, Iowa competed in sections of the 1,500 meters. In the women’s 1,500 invite, senior Amber Aesoph ran 4:29.87.

“Amber executed a very good race,” said Associate Head Coach Randy Hasenbank. “She was within a fraction of her all-time best.”

HEAR FROM DIRECTOR OF TRACK AND FIELD JOEY WOODY
“It was a good weekend overall, and I felt like our program got better this week. I was really pleased with the men’s 4×100 today racing that group of four for the first time. They had some great handoffs and put up a middle-39 time that will continue to drop as we build towards the championship season. We still have Gratt Reed and Damoy Allen, who were on our school record team last season, to add to that group of guys.

 “Even though it wasn’t an improvement from two weeks ago, I thought Alli Bookin-Nosbisch had a great race today. She led the race from the gun until the final five meters. Once she’s in a hot-paced race that she can just run behind, I think she has the tools to go 2:01. Being consistent is always the key to setting up big breakthroughs. 

“I thought Kai Graves-Blanks had another great weekend with a slight improvement from last week. Seeing him run consistently in the 13.8 range is really impressive for a freshman.  He’s going to see another big improvement here soon as he continues to execute the things we’ve been working on.  

“I was really impressed with Olicia Lucas, who had another PR this weekend and is inching her way into the 53-second range. She attacked the race from the start and competed really well in her heat.”

UP NEXT
Iowa hosts the Musco Twilight on April 19-20 at Francis X. Cretzmeyer Track in Iowa City, Iowa. The Hawkeyes also compete at the Mt. Sac Relay on April 17-20 in Walnut, California. 

HAWKEYE RESULTS

Beach Invite
Women’s 800m
5. Clare Pitcher – 2:12.15
7. Grace Bookin-Nosbisch – 2:13.07

Men’s 800m
7. Ryan Schreiner – 1:52.15
15. Chase Lovercheck – 1:54.29

Tom Jones
Women’s 400m Invite
37. Ali Dorn – 55.12

Women’s 400m
5. Olicia Lucas – 54.38, PR
16. Arianna Williams – 56.13

Women’s 800m
9. Alli Bookin-Nosbisch – 2:03.68

Women’s 100mH
10. Katie Petersen – 14.02
20. Ali Frandsen – 14.62, PR

Women’s 4×400 Relay
23. Lucas, Duax, A. Bookin-Nosbisch, Williams – 3.41.97

Women’s 100m
56. Holly Duax – 11.92
64. Brynley McDermott – 12.20

Men’s 100m
7. Kalen Walker – 10.28
23. Austin Kresley – 10.45
55. Joe Stein – 10.72
69. Miles Granjean – 11.04

Men’s 400m
32. Evan Schuster – 49.25

Men’s 800m
39. Caleb Levy – 1:51.27

Men’s 110mH
4. Kalil Johnson – 14.27

Men’s 110mH Invite
15. Kai Graves-Blanks 13.82
31. Grant Conway – 14.29

Men’s 4×100 Relay
11. Walker, Kresley, Stein, Johnson – 39.55

Men’s 4×400 Relay
12. Lewis, Pugh, Marshall, Belken – 3:07.48
29. Schuster, Granjean, Allen, Wasick – 3:16.21

Men’s 400m Invite
34. Josh Pugh – 46.99
49. Connor Belken – 48.43

Bryan Clay Invite
Women’s 1,500m Invite
155. Amber Aesoph – 4:29.87

Women’s 1,500m Open B
126. Clare Kelly – 4:49.63, PR

Men’s 1,500m Open C
39. Yohana Yual – 3:58.17
69. Hayden Kuhn – 3:59.58