Iowa Track and Field Wins Big Ten Title

The Iowa Hawkeyes are Big Ten Champions. It’s been a while since we’ve said those words for football or men’s basketball. But we’ve been saying with a lot more frequency lately in the non-revenue world of Hawkeye sports.

While football and basketball drive the money, we’ve now seen a total of five Big Ten Regular Season or Conference Championships from sports that don’t break even in Iowa City. This after the Iowa men’s track and field team took home their second conference title of the year.

The Hawkeyes won the Big Ten Outdoor Championships title over the weekend with a school record 127.5 team points. That makes it back-to-back titles for Iowa, who also won in 2019. The 2020 championships were cancelled due to COVID-19.

Iowa also took home the indoor title earlier this year, marking the first time the Hawkeyes have won both the indoor and outdoor championships in the same year since 1963.

The men brought home two individual golds, five silvers and a bronze en route to the title. The strong showing bested second place Michigan by a whopping 33 points.

The hurdles were kind to Iowa as Jaylan McConico took the gole in the 110 hurdles with a career best of 13.23 that broke both the school record (previously held by Aaron Mallett, 2017) and tied the Big Ten Championship meet record. Jamal Britt took the silver in the same event with a time of 13.60. Britt would later win gold in the 400 hurdles with a time of 49.69 - a career best. Austin Lietz finished fifth in the 400 hurdles with his own career best of 50.93.

Aside from the silver from Britt in the 110 hurdles, Iowa also finished second in the 4x100 relay with a time of 39.67. James Carter Jr. took second in triple jump with a mark of 16.08 meters. Tysen VanDraska grabbed another silver in the 800 meter with a time of 1:48.67. Wayne Lawrence, Jr. rounded things out with a silver medal in the 400 meter dash with a season-best 45.46. Iowa’s bronze came in the 4×400 relay with a time of 3:06.77.

Here’s a look at the full results from the men’s side, according to HawkeyeSports.com:

Men’s Shot Put:

10. Elijah Barnes / 17.78m

12. Dawson Ellingson / 17.43m

Men’s 4 x 100m Relay:

2. IOWA / 39.67

FINALS Men’s 110m Hurdles:

1. Jaylan McConico / 13.23 (PR) school record, meet record

2. Jamal Britt / 13.60

Men’s Triple Jump:

2. James Carter / 16.08m

FINALS Men’s 400m Dash:

2. Wayne Lawrence Jr. / 45.46 (SB)

8. Jenoah Mckiver / 47.38

9. Julien Gillum / 47.41

FINALS Men’s 800m Run:

2. Tysen VanDraska / 1:48.67

5. Alec Still / 1:49.80

FINALS Men’s 400m Intermediate Hurdles:

1. Jamal Britt / 49.69 (PR)2nd all-time

5. Austin Lietz / 50.93 (PR)

FINALS Men’s 200m Dash:

7. Wayne Lawrence Jr. / 21.01

8. Austin Kresley / 21.27

Men’s 5,000m Run:

9. Nathan Mylenek / 14:12.21

30. Kal Lewis / 15:24.09

Daniel Soto / DNF

Noah Healy / DNF

Men’s 4 x 400m Relay:

3. IOWA, 3:06.77

The Hawkeye women had a solid weekend as well, finishing fourth with 75 total team points. Iowa was led by a pair of gold medals from superstar Laulauga Tausaga and Dallyssa Huggins.

Tausaga put on a show, winning gold in the discus with a season best throw of 62.09 meters. The win made her the first Hawkeye in school history to win four outdoor conference championships in a career.

The Hawkeyes also took home the silver in discuss as Serena Brown threw 56.62 meters. Dallyssa Huggins won Iowa’s other gold medal with a career-best jump of 1.79 meters in the high jump.

Here’s a look at the full results on the women’s side, according to HawkeyeSports.com:

Women’s Discus Throw:

1. Laulauga Tausaga / 62.09m

2. Serena Brown / 56.62m

9. Kat Moody / 50.59m

14. Jamie Kofron / 48.91m (PR)

Women’s 4 x 100m Relay:

11. IOWA / 46.11

Women’s Triple Jump:

5. Eavion Richardson / 12.47m

9. Kayla Hutchins / 12.31m

FINALS Women’s 100m Hurdles:

4. Paige Magee / 13.28

5. Myreanna Bebe / 13.37 (PR) 3rd all-time

7. Jenny Kimbro / 13.64

FINALS Women’s 400m Dash:

7. Cortney Strohman / 53.68 (PR)

Women’s High Jump:

1. Dallyssa Huggins / 1.79m (PR)

Maria Gorham / NH DONE

Women’s Javelin:

Marissa Mueller / X

FINALS Women’s 800m Run:

8. Mallory King / 2:10.52

FINALS Women’s 400m Intermediate Hurdles:

6. Mariel Bruxvoort / 59.11 (PR)

7. Jenny Kimbro / 59.98

FINALS Women’s 200m Dash:

7. Lasarah Hargrove / 23.66 (PR)

Women’s 5,000m Run:

33. Gabby Skopec / 17:54.51

34. Emma Gordon / 17:54.55

Women’s 4 x 400m Relay:

5. IOWA, 3:36.50

---

With the Big Ten Championships wrapped, the Hawkeyes now set their sites on the NCAAs. They’ll be back on the track May 27-29 in College Station, Texas, at the NCAA Western Regional Championships. The Finals will be held in Eugene, Oregon on June 9-12.

Iowa track and field coach Joey Woody told Hawkeye Sports, “We have the NCAA first round in two weeks down at Texas A&M. In four weeks, we have the NCAA finals and then we have the Olympic Trials, so we have a long season ahead of us. We are in a good spot going into the NCAA postseason. We just have to keep our heads straight and get our athletes to the start line and feeling good.”

Congratulations to the Hawkeyes and best of luck at Regionals.