Track and Field Notebook: UCF Black and Gold Invitational

THIS WEEK
The Hawkeyes travel to Orlando, Florida, for the UCF Black and Gold Invitational on Friday and Saturday, March 21-22.

HOW TO FOLLOW ALONG
The meet schedule and results can be found on track and field schedule page at hawkeyesports.com. Updates and results will also be posted on the team's official 'X' account (iowaXC_TF).

2024-2025 NEWS

• The Hawkeyes finished the NCAA Championships with three first-team All-Americans in freshmen Abraham Vogelsang and Pauline Bikembo and sophomore Ryan Johnson. They also picked up two top-five finishes in the men’s weight throw (Johnson) and pentathlon (Bikembo).
• Bikembo finished fourth in the pentathlon, setting a new school record with 4,331 points. Bikembo surpassed her previous record set at the Big Ten Championship to secure the honor for the Hawkeyes. Bikembo had an excellent day, finishing first in the long jump with a 6.23-meter mark and claiming the silver in the high jump at 1.75 meters. Bikembo finished out the competition with a personal best in the 800 meters with a 2:17.46 finish.
• Sophomore Daniela Wamokpego finished the triple jump with a mark of 13.03 meters, securing second-team All-American honors.
• Iowa finished in the top five on both the men’s and women’s side at the Big Ten Indoor Championships. The women’s team placed fourth, while the men's team secured fifth place.
• Freshman Pauline Bikembo set Iowa’s then-school record with 4,330 points in the women’s pentathlon on her way to the conference title. Bikembo became Iowa’s first Big Ten pentathlon champion since 2019. She placed first in the high jump at 1.79 meters and second in the long jump with a mark of 6.10 meters. Bikembo secured a fourth-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles (8.56) and a pair of eighth-place results in the shot put and 800 meters helped Bikembo accumulate her career high in points. Bikembo scored the Hawkeyes ten team points.
• Junior Gabby Cortez earned the gold medal in the women’s 600 meters. Cortez improved her previous career best with a 1:28.18 finish which now ranks fourth in program history. Cortez secured Iowa’s first Big Ten indoor women’s 600-meter title since 2011. 
• Sophomore Ryan Johnson became Iowa’s first-ever men’s weight thrower to win the Big Ten title with his throw of 24.38 meters. 
• Both squads return considerable production from last outdoor season. The men’s team placed second at the conference outdoor meet in 2024, while the women's team placed seventh.
• Mike Stein made his NCAA Championships debut and took home first-team All-America honors with a seventh-place finish in the javelin. Out of six attempts, Stein’s best mark came on his third throw at 72.81 meters (238’ 10”). The Milford, Iowa, native concludes his breakthrough season as an All-American and Big Ten champion.

MIKE STEIN RETURNS FOR THE HAWKEYES
Junior Mike Stein is back for the Hawkeyes, gearing up for a highly anticipated season in the javelin following a standout NCAA debut. Stein finished in seventh place and earned first-team All-American honors at the NCAA Championships. He concluded his impressive freshman campaign by claiming the Big Ten Championship, setting a new school record with a throw of 81.19 meters and earning Men’s Field Athlete of the Championship honors. That record-breaking performance also secured his qualification for the U.S. Olympic Trials, where he placed 21st in the javelin with a throw of 61.98 meters.

2024 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIPS
The Hawkeyes concluded the 2023-2024 season with impressive performances from across the board. Mike Stein became a first-team All-American in the men's javelin. Stein threw 72.81 meters (238' 10") to place seventh in his NCAA debut at Hayward Field. Paige Magee qualified in the women's 100 hurdles, finishing 13th with a personal-best and Iowa program record of 12.88 in the finals. With the second-team finish, Magee closes her outdoor career as a six-time All-American. Jordan Johnson closed his Hawkeye career as a second-team All-American, placing 16th with a toss of 56.74 meters (186' 2") in the men's discus. Rivaldo Marshall qualified in the men's 800 meters with a third-place time of 1:46.96 at the NCAA Regionals in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Austin West was an NCAA qualifier in the men's decathlon for the fourth time in his career. Seven Hawkeyes returned to Eugene, Oregon, for the U.S. Olympic Track and Field Team Trials from June 21-30. That delegation included Magee (women's 100 hurdles), Stein (men's javelin), West (men's decathlon), senior Gratt Reed (men's 110 hurdles), senior Kat Moody (women's discus) and senior Kalen Walker (men's 100 meters).

THROW IT DOWN
With veterans and rising underclassmen alike, Iowa throwers threw down last season. Mike Stein fired a program-record 81.19 meters (255' 4") to win the Big Ten Championship in the men's javelin. Stein placed seventh at nationals in his debut at Hayward Field. Kat Moody was Big Ten Champion in the outdoor women's discus. That throw (59.31 meters) ranks third all-time at Iowa. Moody also took conference fourth place indoors in the women's shot put; Moody ranks second in program history in that event (17.00 meters). Jordan Johnson placed 16th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the men's discus, as well as fourth at Big Tens. Sean Smith was Big Ten runner-up indoors in the weight throw with a program-record mark (22.28 meters) and conference sixth place outdoors in the hammer throw. 

NEED FOR SPEED
Iowa won the men's 4x100 (38.64) and men's 4x400 (3:05.68) at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships last season. Walker was stellar for Iowa last season, setting program records in the 100 meters (10.09) and 60 meters (6.51). Allen ran 6.66 indoors for the third-fastest 60-meter time in program history. On the women's side, Lia Love set the program 60-meter record at 7.24. Love was blazing in the outdoor opener with a wind-aided 11.15 in the 100 meters and helped the 4x100 team to a third all-time result (44.07) at the Desert Heat Classic. Love placed fifth in the 100 and 200 at the Outdoor Big Ten Championships and helped the 4x100 squad to a fourth place result at the conference meet last season.

HAWKEYES AT THE OLYMPICS
Fourteen Hawkeyes competed at the U.S. Olympic Trials: 

• Brittany Brown (’18) qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics with a 21.90 personal best in the women’s 200 meters. Brown is Iowa’s 26th Olympian. 
• Other top finishes included senior Austin West taking sixth in the men’s decathlon, a 12th-place showing in the women’s discus for senior Kat Moody and seniors Paige Magee (100 hurdles) and Kalen Walker (100 meters) reaching the semifinals.
• Abroad, senior Austin Kresley became Mexico’s national champion in the men’s 100 meters. Freshman Daniela Wamokpego took eighth in the women’s triple jump at the French trials.

INDOOR SEASON RECAP
The Hawkeyes wrapped up the indoor season at the NCAA Indoor Championships last weekend. Four Hawkeyes traveled to Virginia Beach, three of those athletes making their NCAA debut. Freshman Abraham Vogelsang and Pauline Bikembo and sophomore Ryan Johnson were named first-team All-Americans with  Daniela Wamokpego securing second-team All-American. Johnson took home the bronze with a 24.48-meter toss. Bikembo tallied 4,331 points, setting a new school record. Vogelsang finished the heptathlon with 5,810 points, good for sixth place. Wamokpego wrapped up the NCAA Championships with an  11th-place finish in the triple jump with a mark of 13.03 meters.

INDOOR SEASON SUCCESS
Both the men’s and women’s squads have had an impressive finish to the indoor season, with 35 updates made to the all-time list. Notably, Pauline Bikembo set the Iowa school record in the women’s pentathlon with 4,331 points in the NCAA Championships. At the Iowa Open, sophomore Daniela Wamokpego reset the program record in the triple jump, leaping to a 13.51-meter mark. In her final attempt, Wamokpego not only set the school and meet records but also posted the NCAA DI’s seventh-best mark. The sophomore from Meaux, France, further solidified her position as a national qualifier in the event and climbed to second in the Big Ten. Her previous school record was set at the Jimmy Grant Invite earlier this season. Sophomore Ryan Johnson also set multiple Iowa program records throughout the indoor season. At the Robinson Family Open, Johnson shattered the school record with a 24.59-meter throw, which ranked fourth in NCAA Division I history at the time of competition. Earlier in the season, the women’s 4x400 relay team of Alivia Williams, Chioma Nwachukwu, Damaris Mutunga, and Olicia Lucas crushed Iowa’s program record with a time of 3:30.42.

UPDATING THE ALL-TIME LISTS
This season, the Hawkeyes have made 35 updates to the top-10 lists:

• Men’s 60 Meters: Austin Kresley (2nd)
• Men’s 60-Meter Hurdles: Kai Graves-Blanks (8th)
• Women’s 60-Meter Hurdles: Lillian Harden (4th) 
• Men’s 200 Meters: Austin Kresley (3rd)
• Women’s 200 Meters: Lia Love (4th)
• Men’s 400 Meters: Isaac Lewis (7th)
• Women's 400 Meters: Damaris Mutunga (3rd), Chioma Nwachukwu (4th), Alivia Williams (8th)
• Women’s 600 Meters: Damaris Mutunga (2nd), Gabby Cortez (5th)
• Women’s 600 Yards: Jaiden Itson (8th)
• Men's 800 Meters: Terrick Johnson (9th) 
• Men’s 3,000 Meters: Luke Knepp (6th)
• Men’s 5,000 Meters: Brayden Burnett (8th) 
• Women's High Jump: Jeanne Le Goff (9th)
• Men's Long Jump: Emmanuel Njoku (5th)
• Women's Long Jump: Pauline Bikembo (3rd), Maud Zeffou-Poaty (4th)
• Men's Triple Jump: Precious Irivi (7th)
• Women’s Triple Jump: Daniela Wamokpego (1st), Jeanne Le Goff (4th)
• Men's Pole Vault: Abraham Vogelsang (7th)
• Women's Weight Throw: Wisdom Williams (9th)
• Men's Weight Throw: Ryan Johnson (1st), Sean Smith (2nd), Austin Busch (4th), Bryce Ryland (8th)
• Women’s Shot Put: Wisdom Williams (5th)
• Women’s Pentathlon: Pauline Bikembo (1st), Annie Wirth (6th)
• Men's Heptathlon: Abraham Vogelsang (3rd), Sal Capaldo (5th)
• Men’s 4x400 Relay: Pugh, Lewis, Johnson, Brown (5th)
• Women’s 4x400 Relay: Williams, Nwachukwu, Mutunga, Lucas (1st)

UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes travel to Texas for the Texas Relays in Austin and the Texas State Invite in San Marcos. A group of Hawkeyes will head to Normal for the Illinois State Redbird Challenge.