Johnson Earns B1G Weekly Honor

IOWA CITY, Iowa – University of Iowa’s Ryan Johnson earned Big Ten Men’s Field Athlete of the Week recognition, the league announced Wednesday afternoon.

Johnson, a junior from Springboro, Ohio, continued his historic indoor season with a dominant performance in the weight throw at the Iowa State Classic in Ames on Feb. 6. Johnson claimed the event title with a 24.99-meter throw, barely missing the 25-meter mark, while recording the fourth-best collegiate performance of all time.

Johnson’s mark ranks as the 15th-best performance in U.S. and world history, while he also maintains the national lead in Division I. Three of his four legal throws surpassed the 24-meter mark. With his performance, Johnson updated Iowa’s record book once again and remains the program’s all-time leader in the event. 

Earlier this week, Johnson was also named the USTFCCCA Men’s National Athlete of the Week, adding national recognition to his conference honor. Johnson was Iowa’s first field athlete to be recognized by the USTFCCCA as a National Athlete of the Week since Laulauga Tausaga in February of 2019. It was the first time a Hawkeye had earned that specific distinction since Rivaldo Marshall took home the honor in December of 2024.

This marks Johnson’s second conference honor of the season, with the first following his standout performance at the Hawkeye Invitational on Jan. 9. There, he became the fourth-best weight thrower in NCAA Division I history at the time, recording a 24.85-meter mark to move into the national lead and break Iowa’s school, facility and meet records.

Johnson and the Hawkeyes return to action this weekend at the Tyson Invitational in Fayetteville, Arkansas, and the BU David Hemery Valentine Invitational in Boston, Massachusetts. Competition begins Feb. 13–14.