IOWA CITY, Iowa – University of Iowa sophomore Karina Muñoz and junior Ilka Juk have earned All-Big Ten honors, announced by the conference office on Wednesday. Muñoz earned first-team honors and Juk was named to the second team.

Muñoz earned the distinction after winning 14 event titles and posting 30 top-three finishes in the regular season. She competed in the all-around for the Hawkeyes in each of the last six meets and took home three titles. The sophomore has posted 11 scores of a 9.900 or higher this season.

The East Brunswick, N.J., native set career-highs on every apparatus this season. She is tied for second in the Iowa record books posting a 9.950 on bars at the Big Five meet this season. At the Kidney Care Women’s Gymnastics Championship in Nashville, she posted a 39.575 in the all-around which is tied for eighth all-time at Iowa.

Muñoz has a national qualifying score (NQS) of 9.905 on beam. She is ranked third in the Big Ten and 35th nationally in the event. She is ranked sixth in the conference and 27th nationally for the all-around with an NQS of 39.470.

Juk earned second-team honors in her first season as a Hawkeye. She posted a season-high, 9.925, at the Big Five and in Nashville. That score put her in the Iowa record books, tied for ninth in school history.

The Vancouver, Canada, native has a NQS of 9.900 on beam and ranks sixth in the Big Ten on the event. Juk had five scores of 9.900 or above on the beam. Juk has also competed on bars at every meet this season with a season average of 9.770, and a season-high of 9.825.

The GymHawks return to action on Saturday at the Jenison Field House in East Lansing, Mich. for the Big Ten Championships. Iowa will compete in session I with Illinois, Maryland, Nebraska, Penn State and Rutgers. The meet begins at 11 a.m. CT and will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.

Drake will be looking for an upset when the Bulldogs take on Washington State Thursday night at the NCAA Tournament in Omaha. Drake is making its third appearance in the tournament in four years and take on a Washington State team that finished second in the PAC-12 in defense.

That’s Drake coach Darian DeVries who says they will need to find ways to generate offense.

DeVries says with 10 new players on the roster it is about handling the moment.

A year ago, the Bulldogs squandered a late lead in a first-round loss to a Miami team that made it all the way to the Final Four.

That’s Drake junior forward Tucker DeVries who hopes there is a partisan Drake crowd in Omaha.

Drake is 28-6. Washington State is 24-9.

Iowa State coach T.J. Otzelberger says after spending three years as the coach at South Dakota State he knows how dangerous the Jackrabbits can be. The Cyclones are seeded second in the East Region of the NCAA Tournament heading into Thursday night’s game in Omaha.

Defense has been a staple, and the Cyclones are one of the nation’s best at turning defense into offense.

The Cyclones enter on a hot streak after rolling to the Big 12 Tournament title in Kansas City.

A large contingent of Cyclone fans is expected inside The CHI Health Center Arena.

Iowa State sophomore guard Tamin Lipsey says defense will remain the key in the tournament.

After being picked to finish seventh in the Big 12 preseason poll the Cyclones looked poised for a deep tournament run. Senior forward Rob Jones.

Two Iowa natives will help lead South Dakota State against second seeded Iowa State in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament Thursday night in Omaha. Former Cedar Rapids Xavier standout Matt Mims is the only player remaining on the South Dakota State team who was recruited by current Cyclone coach T.J. Otzelberger. He coached the Jackrabbits from 2016 to 2019.

Mims on the opportunity to knock his former coach out of the tournament.

With three local teams playing in the evening session on Thursday night the atmosphere is expected to be electric.

Mims is a senior guard who averages just over 17 points per game. Six-eight senior forward Luke Appel is averaging nearly 12 points per game. The Marshalltown native says ISU’s relentless defense will be a challenge.

Appel says limiting mistakes against the Cyclones will be crucial.

For Appel it is a chance to play against the team he grew up cheering for.

South Dakota State is 22-12.

Holy Cross plays UT Martin in the First Four of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament in Iowa City Thursday. Holy Cross is 20-12 and is making its second straight appearance in the tournament after winning the Patriot League Tournament.

That’s Holy Cross coach Maureen Magarity. The Crusaders win with defense. They give up a little over 56 points per game.

Thursday night’s winner advances to play top-seed Iowa Saturday afternoon.

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Fifty-nine University of Iowa student-athletes have been named to the 2023-24 Big Ten Winter Academic All-Conference team. The list includes student-athletes from men’s basketball (5), women’s basketball (10), women’s gymnastics (13), women’s swimming and diving (12) and men’s wrestling (19).

The 19 honorees for men’s wrestling are a school record, while the five men’s basketball and 13 women’s gymnastics accolades are the second most in program history.  The women’s swimming and diving team’s 12 honorees are the most since 2021.

The Big Ten Conference recognized 1,032 winter sports student-athletes, including 81 men’s and 94 women’s basketball players, 58 men’s and 133 women’s gymnasts, 90 men’s hockey players, 147 men’s and 232 women’s swimmers and divers and 197 men’s wrestlers.

Thirty-five of these student-athletes have maintained unblemished cumulative GPAs, including Iowa’s Sharon Goodman (women’s basketball) and Kaia Vanney (women’s gymnastics).

To be eligible for Academic All-Big Ten selection, students must be on a varsity team, as verified by being on the official squad list as of March 1 for winter sports, who have been enrolled fulltime at the institution for a minimum of 12 months and carry a cumulative grade-point average of 3.0 or higher.

IOWA CITY, Iowa – University of Iowa senior guard, Caitlin Clark was named a First Team All-American by the Associated Press on Wednesday. Clark is the first player in program history to be named an AP First Team All-American in three consecutive seasons. Clark made the Second Team in her freshman year.

Clark owns a career 3,700+ points and she recently became the first Division-I player to record 1,000+ points in back-to-back seasons. A native of West Des Moines, Iowa, Clark is once again a finalist for every major national player of the year award. Clark leads the nation in assists (8.9 assists per game) and in scoring (31.9 points per game) after becoming the first player to finish No. 1 in both categories in back-to-back seasons. She is also the only player in NCAA DI men’s or women’s basketball history to lead her conference in scoring and assists in four consecutive seasons.

Clark was recently tabbed as the Big Ten Player of the Year and is the first player in program history to be named First Team All-Big Ten four times in four years of competition. She has also led the Hawkeyes to three straight Big Ten Championships for the first time in program history.

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No. 1 seed Iowa will take on the winner of 16-seeds Holy Cross and UT-Martin, which will take place in Iowa City on Thursday. The Hawkeyes (29-4; 15-3) will face the winner of the play-in game on Saturday.