4x400 Relay Advances to Championship Final

EUGENE, Ore. – University of Iowa’s 4x400 relay team of Alivia Williams, Damaris Mutunga, Princess Uche and Chioma Nwachukwu advanced to Saturday’s championship final after running 3:27.21 on Thursday night at Hayward Field.

The quartet finished third in heat one and battled Duke and Tennessee for an auto-qualifying spot. The Hawkeyes ultimately had to wait for heats two and three to finish to advance on time after finishing seventh overall.

“That was a terrific ending to the women’s first night of competition,” Director of Iowa Track and Field Joey Woody said. “The 4x4 capped the night with an exhilarating performance, finishing third in the heat with the second-best time in Iowa history and earning the second-fastest time qualifier.”

Alivia Williams led with a 52.55 opening leg before giving way to Mutunga, who ran Iowa’s fastest split in 50.75. Uche took the baton and sprinted her lap in 51.85. Nwachukwu anchored the relay with a 52.07 and helped Iowa post the second-fastest relay time in school history.

“Alivia ran an unbelievable leadoff leg to get us into the top three from the start,” Woody added. “Damaris ran a crazy fast 50.7 PR split to keep us in the top three teams and pull away from the rest of the field. Princess took the stick and was on a mission to keep us in the top three with a huge PR split to get it to Chioma in a great position. Chioma ran a terrific anchor leg to keep us in the top three teams and finished strong to get the time qualifier.”  

The 4x400 team returns to the finals for the second consecutive season and will go for the program’s second-ever first-team All-America honor at 9:20 p.m. (CT) on Saturday night.

“I’m so proud of all of those girls, including our alternates, and how they have competed together and for each other this season,” Woody continued. “They’ve been on a mission all season to make the NCAA finals for the second year in a row. I can’t wait to see what they can do in the finals on Saturday.”

Nwachukwu started the evening for the Hawkeyes, competing in the 400 meters. Representing the program as the third NCAA qualifier in the event in the last ten years, Nwachukwu ran 51.41 and placed 11th. The native of Asaba, Nigeria, finished fourth out of heat three and missed qualification to the final on time by two-tenths of a second.

“Chioma ran a great race today and just missed making the finals by two spots,” Woody said. “That was one of her best executed races of the season. She competed very well.”

Rosemary Arthur was Iowa’s third-ever NCAA qualifier in the women's 800 meters and made her NCAA Championships debut on Thursday after competing at the junior college level the previous two seasons. The junior from Sekondi, Ghana, ran 2:03.55 and finished in 22nd place. 

“Rosemary ran extremely tough in a super fast race today,” Woody continued. “The race went out hot the first 400 meters and she just ran out of gas in the last 100, but I am so proud of how well she competed all season. She’s the No. 2 800 runner in Iowa history and she improved her time by six seconds from last year, which is amazing.”

Up Next: Bryce Ruland competes in the final of the men’s discus at 4:15 p.m. (CT) on Friday. The final of the men’s 4x400 is scheduled for 9:21 p.m. at Hayward Field.

HAWKEYE RESULTS
Women’s 400 Meter Semifinal
11. Chioma Nwachukwu - 51.41

Women’s 800 Meter Semifinal
22. Rosemary Arthur - 2:03.55

Women’s 4x400 Relay Semifinal
7. Al. Williams, Mutunga, Uche, Nwachukwu - 3:27.21, 2nd at Iowa, q