By Cody Goodwin
cody-goodwin@uiowa.edu
The Iowa women’s track and field squad will jump back into action this weekend after a week of rest. The Hawkeyes will head west to Ames for the two-day Iowa State Classic.
The Iowa-Iowa State rivalry burns deeply inside the minds of many Hawkeye athletes and coaches. Head football coach Kirk Ferentz knows the importance of winning any sporting event against the Cyclones.
“The idea is to win it,” he said as his team was preparing for its Cy-Hawk battle last September. “I think [the players] are like I am on that.”
But does that idea carry over to the track and field program?
Head coach Layne Anderson said yes — to a point.
“It’s a rivalry, but in the same breath it’s not,” he said. “Being in two separate conferences, that somewhat waters down the rivalry on the track.”
Anderson said that, due to the number of athletes from different schools that compete on the track at one time, there’s no definite time for a clash specifically between Iowa and Iowa State.
The head coach said the talent between the two squads would make for an interesting dual meet if there was ever to be one, as both teams have their strong points.
“Some of the things they’ve done over the years have really made them better,” he said. “We don’t want to finish second to anybody, but certainly not to an Iowa State athlete.”
The third-year head coach said the in-state rivalry is especially intense during recruiting.
“Recruiting in-state kids, signing in-state kids — getting the top track and field kids in the state of Iowa to come to Iowa — is a big deal,” Anderson said. “There’s still a battle to get the upper hand over the other.”
One of the former recruits that got looks from both schools was Iowa freshman standout Khanishah Williams. The high jumper won a pair of Iowa 4A state championships (high jump, 100-meter hurdles) while competing for Burlington (Iowa) High.
Williams won’t get to compete this weekend due to an injury, but said she knows the Cy-Hawk rivalry goes deeper than just what’s seen on the surface. Because she hasn’t had the chance to participate in the rivalry, Williams thinks of it like the ones she had in high school.
“You want to be the team that gets recognized as the better school,” she said. “You don’t want to be put to shame.”
Williams said she would always play to get her name in the city’s newspaper while in high school, and that motivation hasn’t left.
“You want to be the team that gets talked about — but only for the good reasons,” she said.
Iowa’s first shot to avoid “shame” begins today at 11 a.m. in the Lied Recreation-Athletic Facility. Sprinter Raven Moore is confident the Hawkeyes won’t disappoint like they did in the Razorback Invitational two weeks ago in Fayetteville, Ark.
“At Arkansas, we all had a shock. We realized how badly we got beat and what we need to do to get better,” she said. “I’m pretty sure we’re going to show out.”
