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Hawkeyes Earn 6 Indoor All-Big Ten Finishes

Sports

February 25th, 2024 by Ric Hanson

GENEVA, Ohio – University of Iowa Track and Field closed the Big Ten Indoor Championships with six All-Big Ten finishes this weekend at Spire Academy.

The Hawkeyes earned five second-place finishes on Saturday. The women’s team placed third with 73 points, matching the highest finish in program history. The men’s team finished sixth with 58 points.

In the men’s heptathlon, senior Austin West posted a personal-best 5,975 points, good for a silver medal and the sixth-best total in the country this season.

West posted personal records in three of seven events, including the pole vault (4.40 meters) and 1,000-meter race (2:32.65) on Saturday. West was victorious in the heptathlon 1,000 meters. He competed alongside teammate Sal Capaldo, who placed sixth overall with a personal-best 5,276 points.

In the women’s 60-meter hurdles, senior Paige Magee finished second with a time of 8.01. Magee finished just five-thousandths of a second behind Michigan’s Aasia Laurencin. Teammate Tionna Tobias took fifth with a time of 8.31.

Senior Kalen Walker earned silver in the men’s 60 meters, running 6.61. Senior Joe Stein also placed in the event, taking seventh (6.78).

In the women’s 600 meters, redshirt sophomore Chloe Larsen ran 1:28.66 to finish second. Sophomore Gabby Cortez was close behind in third place (1:29.22).

Magee also took third place in the women’s 200 meters (23.64) racing alongside junior Lia Love (23.89).

Magee closed out the day as part of a 3:34.29 performance in the women’s 4×400-meter relay that now ranks 7th in program history. Magee joined teammates Audrey Biermann, Ali Dorn, and Nylah Perry in the effort, which was good for a runner-up finish.

Elsewhere, senior Alli Bookin-Nosbisch finished the women’s 800 meters with a time of 2:05.55 for third place, and senior Kat Moody threw 16.76 meters (55’ 0”) for fourth place in the shot put.

HEAR FROM DIRECTOR OF TRACK AND FIELD JOEY WOODY 
“I was really proud of how the women came out and competed today, especially. We didn’t have a great first day overall as a team. I thought we got the momentum going last night a little with the DMR. Then, they came out and really got after it today. They knew their backs were against the wall. They had to compete the best that they could to actually be one of the top three teams, and I thought they did a tremendous job all the way through. I was really excited for how the women competed.

“I thought both 4×4 teams competed well at the end of the meet. The good thing is that this will leave a sour taste in our mouth, because we expect more. Our women, I thought, had the team to win a championship this weekend. The good thing is, having a sour taste in our mouths when we place third definitely shows that we have something big on the horizon. I think we can get it done in the outdoor season. The men’s team just didn’t have the athletes available that we needed to do what we expected to do. I am still proud of how the guys competed.

“This league is getting tougher every championship, and it just shows what it takes to win. We have got to have everybody competing. You can’t have all our best athletes sitting at home. We have a lot that are at home who we need to show up during outdoor season and contribute.”

UP NEXT 
The Hawkeyes compete at the NCAA Indoor Championships in Boston, Massachusetts, from March 6-9.