The Iowa track and field team owned the proverbial podium Saturday night at the Musco Twilight Meet.
The Hawkeyes posted victories in 14 events, including three in which the Black and Gold swept the top three places.
“We certainly feel like we’ve made progress,” men’s head coach Larry Wieczorek said. “We had some really outstanding performances tonight.”
Among those performances were efforts in the men’s 100-meter dash, 110-meter high hurdles, and high jump.
Junior Justin Austin took first place in the 100 meters with a time of 10.47 seconds, followed closely by teammates Josh Larney (10.75 seconds) and Tevin-Cee Mincy (10.80 seconds).
Junior Jordan Mullen earned his second victory in as many weekends in the 110-hurdles. He suffered a torn hamstring on Jan. 21 at the Adidas Invite, and returned at the Tom Botts Invitational on April 14. He finished in 13.90 seconds, followed by junior Ethan Holmes (14.01) and senior Dan Davis (14.14).
Senior Jeff Herron won the men’s high jump with a leap of 2.10 meters. Senior Graham Valdes and junior Brandon Oest tied for second at 2.05 meters.
The women’s team claimed four victories, and junior Majesty Tutson’s third-place toss of 52.72 meters set a new school record in the women’s discus on Friday night. Sophomore Jasmine Simpson took top honors in the hammer throw with a 55.42-meter effort.
The Hawkeye women were paced on the oval by sophomore Erin Jones, who won both the 100- and 200-meter dashes in times of 11.92 and 24.30 seconds, respectively. Fellow sophomore Raven Moore finished second in the 100 meters and third in the 200 meters.
Senior McKenzie Melander set a new meet and track record in the 3,000-meters. She spent the majority of her race well ahead of the field on her way to a 9:21.59-minute time. Her mark ranks third all-time at Iowa.
“All around, start-to-finish it was a great night, and another step forward,” women’s head coach Layne Anderson said.
The relays for both the men’s and women’s teams had strong meets as well.
The men’s 4×100 relay of D’Juan Richardson, Austin, Mincy, and Larney took first place in 40.61 seconds.
The Hawkeyes won both the men’s and women’s 4×400 relays. The women’s quartet of Victoria Sack, Nicole Erickson, Kelsey Quinn, and Hannah Simonson set a meet record with their time of 3:42.47 minutes. The men’s “A” and “B” teams swept the top spots in 3:09.95 and 3:12.42 minutes, respectively.
Holmes said he’s confident Saturday’s overall performance is a sign of things to come.
“We’re definitely a strong team,” he said. “It was absolutely a good showing tonight. Everybody ran well, and I think people are going to be real surprised when they see us at the Big Ten meet.”
-by Tork Mason
