Hawkeyes Shine at Stanford & Auburn
The Iowa Hawkeyes enjoyed a successful weekend at the Stanford Invite and the Auburn Invite this past weekend. Diane Nukuri and Meghan Armstrong posted NCAA Auto qualifiers and PRs at 10k running 33:17.01 and 33:28.00. Diane bettered the school record from 1991 and her PR by 13 seconds. Meghan was running the first 10k of her career and is continuing to demonstrate her incredible range as a distance runner. Both split the 5k at 16:33 and 16:38 en route to their performances. Racheal Marchand posted an NCAA Regional qualifier at 5k with a time of 16:35.83 in her first race of the outdoor season preparing herself for a run at the 10k qualifier down the road.
The breakout performer of the weekend for the Hawkeyes would have to be Jessica Schmidt. She began the outdoor season with a 3k steeple PR of 11:20. On Saturday at Stanford she broke the school record and dropped her lifetime best all the way down to 10:32.50 to earn an NCAA Regional qualifier. Jessica's performance is a shining example of what hard work and persistence can do for a runner.
Great performances were turned in at the Auburn Invite this past Saturday. Tammilee Kerr and Renee White led the way with NCAA Regional qualifiers in the javelin and the triple jump. The 4 x 100m relay team of White, Alexander, Kerr, and Trusty just missed the NCAA Regional mark by .08 with a solid season opener of 45.78. There is no doubt that this quartet will achieve that standard in the weeks ahead.
Another member of the Hawkeyes enjoying a breakout season is Monica Mims. With only outdoor eligibility this season she worked hard through the indoor season and enjoyed another PR day on Sat. She lowered her 400m PR once again to 56.46 and will challenge the 56 sec barrier in the near future.
Erin O'Hern posted a lifetime best of 168-9 in the hammer throw and continues to close in on the NCAA Regional mark.
The middle distance group enjoyed a breakout meet and have set themselves up well for the upcoming meet. Sarah Henize raced to a 2nd place finish with a time of 4:32.07. Krista Anderson crossed in 3rd with a collegiate best of 4:36.76, while Fr. Lauren Hardesty posted a solid time of 4:41.70. All total 5 of the 7 ladies in the 1500m posted lifetime best performances.
Weekend Summary
2 NCAA Auto Qualifiers (Nukuri, Armstrong; 10k)
4 NCAA Regional Qualifiers (Kerr - Javelin, Marchand - 5k; Schmidt - 3k Steeple, White - Triple Jump)
2 School Records (Nukuri - 10k; Schmidt - 3k Steeple)
12 Lifetime Best Performances
Next Meet: Western Illinois Invite and Sun Angel Classic in Tempe, Arizona this weekend.
"How many miles will you run chasing a dream."