Tobias is All-Big Ten, 10 Hawkeyes Advance

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The University of Iowa track and field program continued competition at the Big Ten Championships on Saturday at U-M Track and Field Stadium. 

The men’s team stands in fourth place with 22 points through seven of 21 events. The women’s team is positioned in eighth place with 15 points. 

Senior Tionna Tobias earned All-Big Ten Second Team honors in the women’s long jump. Tobias lept 6.23 meters (20’ 5.25”) to finish runner-up.

In the women’s high jump, redshirt sophomore Ella Meeuwsen jumped a lifetime-best 1.70 meters (5’ 7”) to finish seventh. 

Iowa advanced 10 individuals to the finals on Saturday. 

Iowa pushed four men’s hurdlers through to the 110-meter finals on Saturday. Senior Grant Conway posted a season-best 13.86 to place second in the trials. 

Senior Gratt Reed qualified automatically in 14.09, finishing 7th overall. Junior Kalil Johnson (14.18) and freshman Kai Graves-Blanks (14.29) were close behind in eighth and ninth place, respectively. 

Senior Paige Magee qualified automatically in the women’s 100 hurdles with a 13.24 time to place second in the trials. Magee is the returning Big Ten runner-up in the event from last season.

Junior Lia Love was a qualifier in the women’s 100 meters, racing 11.49 to cruise into the finals at fourth overall in the trials. Two Hawkeyes qualified in the men’s 100 meters, with senior Kalen Walker finishing second overall at 10.42 and senior Damoy Allen placing fifth in 10.52. 

Iowa qualified freshman Josh Pugh with the second-place finish in the men’s 400 meter trials, racing 46.62. In the women’s 400 meters, senior Ali Dorn placed sixth to qualify in 54.33.

Iowa advanced two more heavy-hitters in the middle distance. In the women’s 800 meters, senior Alli Bookin-Nosbisch cruised to the finals with a 2:06.29 performance to win her heat and place fourth for the day. Senior Rivaldo Marshall raced 1:49.67 to win his heat and advance to Sunday’s final.

Bookin-Nosbisch (2:03.24) and Marshall (1:45.86) hold the women’s and men’s 800 meter records at Iowa. Marshall became Iowa’s first indoor 800-meter national champion this season. Bookin-Nosbisch has twice finished sixth in the 800 meters at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships, and she placed third at the indoor conference meet this season. 

Senior De’Andre Stapleton Jr. matched a lifetime best in the men’s long jump, going for 7.31 meters (23’ 11.75”) on his sixth attempt to place ninth at the conference meet. 

Senior Kat Moody placed sixth in the shot put with a mark of 16.56 meters (54’ 4”). Sophomore Wisdom Williams was 14th in the event at 15.30 meters (50’ 2.5”). 

Senior Quintin Lyons was 11th in the men’s shot put, tossing for 17.85 meters (58’ 6.75”). Sophomore Sal Capaldo finished strong in the men’s decathlon, retaining his fifth-place overnight standing with a total of 6,967 points. A win in the 110-meter hurdles to start the day propelled his day. Capaldo ran 14.46 to win the race.

HEAR FROM DIRECTOR OF TRACK AND FIELD JOEY WOODY
“Today was exciting for us with Tionna Tobias. Last year she was the Big Ten Champion in the heptathlon, and she also was competing to score in the long jump and the 100 hurdles. This year, she had a little injury that sort of set her back. We didn’t even know for sure whether she would be able to compete this weekend. For her to return here and get runner-up, with a real chance to win the whole thing, says a lot. I was super excited for her, and I think that will set her up very well heading into the first day of nationals.

“Kat Moody had another great day. She continues to be one of our best competitors on the team. She brings her A-game to every championship. Lia Love executed her race really well. There is more there for the final, but she is in a really good place heading into tomorrow. Paige Magee was lagging a little bit to start her race, but she started really humming at the end to win her heat and get the auto-qualifier.

“To go four-for-four in the men’s high hurdles is really impressive, especially in this kind of a field. Those guys are set up very well going into the final day. Kalen executed his race really well. I was really proud of Damoy. He just missed making the final yesterday in the 200 by three-thousandths of a second. He was really motivated coming into today to punch his ticket.
“Josh Pugh ran a terrific race in the 400. That was a really great performance from him. I was also excited for Ali Dorn in the women’s 400. She came out and ran one of the best races of her career to punch her ticket. She almost won her heat. I was really proud of those two. In the 800 meters, Rivaldo did his thing. He set up his race the way he knows how to, winning his race and making sure he heads into the final the way he wants to.

“I am so proud of Ella Meeuwsen today. She has just been so committed to coming back this season after some injury struggles the past two years. She took it to another level today, matching her PR and scoring her first points at a Big ten Conference Championship.

“I was really proud of Sal Capaldo in the men’s heptathlon. He battled over two straight days and 10 events to come out with a huge fifth-place finish to add to our overall team points. He has made some huge improvements in each of the events since his redshirt-freshman year last season. He is a big team guy, and he has been very impressive this entire season after finishing sixth at the Big Ten Indoor Championships in the men’s heptathlon. To come and finish fifth in the decathlon outdoors shows how big of an impact he has had for the team this season.

“Some people missed close today. I felt for Holly Duax, who has narrowly missed the finals a few times at championship meets. She is going to make the finals in the near future. Quintin Lyons came out and finished his career one-hundredth of a meter off from his career best. I am so proud of him and how he competed today. He is a forever Hawkeye for us. He always has his best performance at the Big Ten Championships.

“De’Andre Stapleton Jr. made the final and matched his PR in the long jump. He is a utility guy who always does what he can to help the program. He just missed point-scoring today, but he put it all out there. He wasn’t expected to make the final, and he did. He has some great opportunities tomorrow, and so do we as a team. We have a lot of qualifiers, but also field events like the discus, the triple-jump and the men’s high jump. We have got a lot of events left and a group of potential point-scorers.”

UP NEXT
Iowa closes out the Big Ten Outdoor Championships tomorrow at U-M Track and Field Stadium.

HAWKEYE RESULTS

Women’s 100 Meters Trials
4. Lia Love – 11.49 q
11. Holly Duax – 11.68

Men’s 100 Meters Trials
2. Kalen Walker – 10.42 Q
5. Damoy Allen – 10.52 q
11. Joe Stein – 10.66
16 Miles Granjean – 10.79

Women’s 100-meter Hurdles Trials
2. Paige Magee – 13.24 Q
12. Katie Petersen – 14.08

Men’s 110-meter Hurdles Trials
2. Grant Conway – 13.86 Q
7. Gratt Reed – 14.09 Q
8. Kalil Johnson – 14.18
9. Kai Graves-Blanks – 14.29

Women’s 400 Meters Trials
6. Ali Dorn – 54.33 q
11. Arianna Williams – 55.07, PR
14. Olicia Lucas – 55.47
15. Nylah Perry – 55.75
22. Jaiden Itson – 56.88

Men’s 400 Meters Trials
2. Josh Pugh – 46.62 Q, PR
16. Connor Belken – 48.55

Women’s 800 Meters Trials
4. Alli Bookin-Nosbisch – 2:06.29 Q
17. Grace Bookin-Nosbisch – 2:11.69
19. Katie Moore – 2:11.93
22. Clare Pitcher – 2:13.67
24. Gabby Cortez – 2:14.60

Men’s 800 Meters Trials
9. Rivaldo Marshall – 1:49.67 Q
19. Ryan Schreiner – 1:51.80
20. Chase Lovercheck – 1:51.88
25. Caleb Levy – 1:52.92

Women’s 3,000-meter Steeplechase Finals
15. Rowan Boulter – 11:25.97

Men’s 3,000-meter Steeplechase Finals
12. Hayden Kuhn – 9:08.47
17. Yohana Yual – 9:22.40
21. Jack Pendergast – 9:30.55

Women’s Long Jump Finals
2. Tionna Tobias – 6.23 meters (20’ 5.25”)

Men’s Long Jump Finals
9. Deandre Stapleton Jr. – 7.31 meters (23’ 11.75”), PR
14. Austin West – 7.08 meters (23’ 2.75”)

Women’s High Jump Finals
7. Ella Meeuwsen – 1.70 meters (5’ 7”), PR

Women’s Shot Put Finals
6. Kat Moody – 16.56 meters (54’ 4”)
14. Wisdom Williams – 15.30 meters (50’ 2.5”)

Men’s Shot Put Finals
11. Quintin Lyons – 17.85 meters (58’ 6.75”)

Decathlon
5. Sal Capaldo – 6,967 points
1. 110-meter Hurdles – 14.46
8. Discus – 36.70 meters (120’ 5”)
7. Pole Vault – 4.00 meters (13’ 1.5”)
9. Javelin – 41.91 meters (137’ 6”)
9. 1,500 Meters – 5:02.05

Heptathlon
9. Annie Wirth – 4864 points
4. Long Jump – 5.70 meters (18’ 8.5”)
4. Javelin – 34.14 meters (112’ 0”)
9. 800 Meters – 2:26.09