ANN ARBOR, Mich. – University of Iowa track and field placed second in the men’s competition and seventh in the women’s competition at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships on Sunday. The Hawkeyes earned three conference event championships on the final day at U-M Track and Field Stadium.
The men’s program has finished third or better at the outdoor conference championships five times in a row, dating back to 2019.
Iowa earned three men’s event championships and one women’s event championship this season. Iowa ended the week with seven All-Big Ten results, including five on Sunday.
Senior Kat Moody was an event champion in the women’s discus on Sunday, with men’s relay teams earning championships in the 4×100 meters and 4×400 meters.
Watch Kat Moody win a B1G Championship in the women's discus on the final throw of event!#Hawkeyes x #B1GTF pic.twitter.com/RdFqMuZ713
— Iowa Track & Field/Cross Country (@IowaXC_TF) May 12, 2024
Moody started the day off with fireworks in the women’s discus, firing 59.31 meters (194’ 7”) on the final throw of the event.
“I knew it was a good throw, but I didn’t know for sure how good it was,” said Moody. “Everybody else reacted to it before I did. Even when I saw the number, I wasn’t sure that I had won.
“When I saw our throws coach’s face, I finally knew. I was in shock.”
Moody’s toss is a new lifetime best, advancing the Clive, Iowa, native to third all-time in Hawkeye women’s program history. Moody credits throws coach Ray Robinson with the confidence needed to perform in crunch time.
“Ray has helped so much,” said Moody. “Even when I didn’t have confidence in myself, he was there the whole time telling me ‘you are an elite thrower.’ Up until today, I can’t say I felt that confidence, but now I do. I am really excited to take it into regionals.”
Moody was dancing on the infield with teammates to stay loose during the finals.
“I came here today chasing that trial mark,” said Moody. “To accomplish that goal here with all of my friends around me was super special. It is my last Big Ten Outdoor meet, and I wanted to have fun. This year the women’s team really came together. I celebrated with the 4×100 group, and they said they carried that energy into their own events.”
That energy may have been contagious. The women’s 4×100 relay group placed fourth (44.48), and then Iowa immediately followed with a championship in the men’s 4×100. The Hawkeyes were led by seniors Kalen Walker, Gratt Reed, De’Andre Stapleton Jr. and Damoy Allen.
“Before the season started, we said that we weren’t going to lose this year,” says Allen. “This year was our year.”
The Hawkeyes were in a close-fourth place when Allen took the baton for the anchor leg.
“I knew I had to get out hard to get out hard to catch them,” said Allen. “When I got that stick, I knew I wasn’t going to let my teammates down. I told them that if they gave me the baton anywhere close, we were going to win.
Allen turned on the jets and Iowa turned in the seventh-best 4×100 time in program history. The Hawkeyes finished in 39.28, three-hundredths of a second ahead of the crew from Nebraska.
𝗙𝗹𝘆, 𝗛𝗮𝘄𝗸𝘀, 𝗙𝗹𝘆!
Kalen Walker, Gratt Reed, De'Andre Stapleton Jr. and Damoy Allen are B1G Champs in the men's 4×100 🥇#Hawkeyes x #B1GTF pic.twitter.com/VYId0PFhHp
— Iowa Track & Field/Cross Country (@IowaXC_TF) May 12, 2024
“That has been Damoy’s mindset all year,” said Walker. “He is a finisher. He is a closer. That’s what he is good at.”
Walker was proud to see the group of veterans execute together one last time at the conference meet.
“We knew we were good enough to win and just focused on getting the baton around,” said Walker. “It was really cool to see our seniors get the medal. For some of those guys, it was their last time running.”
Iowa finished the afternoon with a victory in the men’s 4×400 to secure the runner-up team finish. Two freshmen started the group off in Isaac Lewis and Josh Pugh, with seniors Connor Belken and Rivaldo Marshall bringing the baton home.
Rounding the bases! ⚾️#Hawkeyes x @BigTenNetwork pic.twitter.com/wsMFhkJI8g
— Iowa Track & Field/Cross Country (@IowaXC_TF) May 12, 2024
Lewis also placed third in the men’s 400 hurdles on Sunday, while Pugh earned All-Big Ten honors with a silver medal in the men’s 400 meters.
“It is about going in without any stress,” said Pugh. “I literally go into the races with a blank mind. Pure focus, that’s what gets it done.”
Iowa combined for 22 finishes inside the top-eight on Sunday.
Senior Lia Love came up with a pair of fifth-place results in the women’s 100 (11.36) and 200 meters (23.34). Each of those events were wind-legal season bests.
Walker (10.22) and Allen (10.27) finished third and fourth, respectively, in the men’s 100 meters. Allen’s time was a new lifetime best.
The short hurdles were eventful for the Hawkeyes. Senior Paige Magee was runner-up at 12.93 in the women’s 100 hurdles, just hundredths off of her women’s program record set earlier this season. Indoors and outdoors, Magee is a six-time All-Big Ten finisher.
Four Hawkeyes qualified for the men’s 110 hurdles. Senior Grant Conway (13.89) placed fifth, with senior Gratt Reed (13.93) in sixth, freshman Kai Graves-Blanks (14.02) in seventh and junior Kalil Johnson (14.13) finishing ninth.
Senior Ali Dorn was eighth in the women’s 400 meters, racing 54.51. In the women’s 400 hurdles, senior Mariel Bruxvoort (58.03) took third, while Magee (58.16) placed fifth.
In the women’s 800 meters, senior Alli Bookin-Nosbisch ran 2:04.98 for third place. Senior Rivaldo Marshall ran 1:48.54 to take fourth in the men’s 800 meter.
Freshman Daniela Wamokpego was stellar in the women’s triple jump, leaping 13.21 meters to improve her third-place standing in program history with a new personal best.
In the men’s discus, senior Jordan Johnson fired 58.03 meters (190’ 4”) to place fourth.
HEAR FROM DIRECTOR OF TRACK AND FIELD JOEY WOODY
“As I always say, you have got to get your relays going. That sparks the momentum right away. I was really excited for what the men and the women did in the 4×1 to start the day. For the men to get 10 points off the bat was huge for our team. Damoy was flying down the homestretch to go catch those teams ahead of us, so I was really excited for him. That was the first time we put that relay together all year, so that is always impressive to be able to do that at the Big Ten Championships.
“Jordan Johnson had a great competition. He was battling the whole time, and for him to put up his season’s best in the discus is big. You can’t say enough about what the freshmen have done for our program this year. Josh Pugh got runner-up in the 400. That is a guy who is going to keep getting better. Same thing with Isaac Lewis. He didn’t let being stuck in lane one affect him at all, and he ran an amazing, mature race. He competed all the way to the finish line. To get third out of lane one in the 400 hurdles was really impressive.
“The 4×4 earned the win to end it. You can’t say enough about what those guys have done for the team this whole year. That was the first time we’ve put that relay team together, but they competed to help secure second place overall in the team standings.
“We had a lot of individuals who were banged up coming into this weekend, but they fought and competed hard. It helps when you have a lot of qualifiers on the final day to a lot of good things. Damoy and Kalen competed really well in the 100. We had that group of four qualify in the high hurdles and then come back today to compete hard and score a lot of points for the team. You can’t say enough about that.
“I was really proud of how the women’s team battled. The 4×1 team helped start us off well, and then they just kept plugging away. Kat Moody really got the momentum going. Huge, huge performance for her to come out and go get that last one to earn the win. What she has done for this program as an athlete, person and leader is really extraordinary. She is a tremendous competitor. If I can have more Kat Moodys in our program, we will be pretty dang good down the road.
“Paige Magee had a great weekend and finished runner-up today. She was right there. She was coming up at the line, but just clipped one of the last hurdles. That threw off her momentum a little bit. The student-athlete from Michigan who won the race is one of the best in the country. Paige showed today that she can make that final in the national meet. She came back and competed well with Mariel Bruxvoort in the 400 hurdles later in the day.
“I’m super proud of Alli Bookin-Nosbisch this weekend competing in a very tough field to finish third and medal in the 800. She then came back to give us a terrific anchor leg in the 4×4. She had a really impressive year both indoors and out. I know getting a medal meant so much to her, especially after last year’s Big Ten outdoor meet when she was making a huge move down the homestretch and got tripped up in 50 meters from the finish line. She has been a huge asset to our women’s team, and I’m excited to see what she can do at the NCAA first round.
“We had a lot of scorers in the 4-5-6 point range. Lia Love battled a tight hamstring this weekend, but she did tremendous on our 4×1 before finishing the day really, really well in the 100 and the 200. Those were wind-legal season bests for her. We have some great competitors across our entire program. Our women scored in almost every event. Daniela in the triple jump had a terrific year, putting up her best performance at the end of the year. For the most part, all our athletes were able to do that this week. Can’t say more than that. It just wasn’t enough as a team, so we have to get better. We left a lot of point scorers at home that we have to get healthy in the future. If we do that, I think we will be battling in these situations moving forward. Now we turn our attention to getting qualifiers through to Eugene. I feel really confident in both the men and the women.”
UP NEXT
Iowa competes at the NCAA West Preliminary on May 22-25 in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
HAWKEYE RESULTS
Women’s 100 Meters Finals
5. Lia Love – 11.36
Men’s 100 Meters Finals
3. Kalen Walker – 10.22
4. Damoy Allen – 10.27, PR
Women’s 100-meter Hurdles Finals
2. Paige Magee – 12.93
Men’s 110-meter Hurdles Finals
5. Grant Conway – 13.89
6. Gratt Reed – 13.93
7. Kai Graves-Blanks – 14.02
9. Kalil Johnson – 14.13
Women’s 200 Meters Finals
5. Lia Love – 23.34
Women’s 400 Meters Finals
8. Ali Dorn – 54.51
Men’s 400 Meters Finals
2. Josh Pugh – 46.57, PR
Women’s 400-meter Hurdles Finals
3. Mariel Bruxvoort – 58.03
5. Paige Magee – 58.16
Men’s 400-meter Hurdles Finals
3. Isaac Lewis – 51.44
Women’s 800 Meters Finals
3. Alli Bookin-Nosbisch – 2:04.98
Men’s 800 Meters Finals
4. Rivaldo Marshall – 1:48.54
Women’s 5,000 Meters Finals
16. Amber Aesoph – 16:48.57
25. Miriam Sandeen – 17:11.53
37. Rowan Boulter – 18:06.36
Men’s 5,000 Meters Finals
9. Will Ryan – 14:25.47
10. Hayden Kuhn – 14:28.41, PR
18. Brayden Burnett – 14:47.70, PR
30. Yohana Yual – 15:01.42
Women’s 4×100 Finals
4. Pattison, Love, Duax, Magee – 44.48
Men’s 4×100 Finals
1. Walker, Reed, Stapleton Jr., Allen – 39.28, 7th at Iowa
Women’s 4×400 Finals
6. Lucas, Dorn, Williams, A. Bookin-Nosbisch
Men’s 4×400 Finals
1. Lewis, Pugh, Belken, Marshall – 3:05.68
Women’s Triple Jump Finals
4. Daniela Wamokpego – 13.21 meters (43’ 4.25”), PR + 3rd at Iowa
Men’s Triple Jump Finals
9. Precious Irivi – 15.43 meters (50’ 7.5”), PR + 8th at Iowa
14. De’Andre Stapleton Jr. – 15.11 meters (49’ 7”)
Men’s High Jump Finals
19. Zack Pluff – 1.95 meters (6’ 4.75”)
Women’s Discus Finals
1. Kat Moody – 59.31 meters (194’ 7”), PR + 3rd at Iowa
9. Sydnie Smith – 49.22 meters (161’ 6”)
15. Jamie Kofron – 39.88 meters (130’ 10”)
Men’s Discus Finals
4. Jordan Johnson – 58.03 meters (190’ 4”)
23. Walker Whalen – 47.95 meters (157’ 3”)