Six Iowa Hawkeyes Earn NCAA All-Midwest Regional Honors

On a beautiful weekend of weather in Norman, OK the University of Iowa Hawkeyes crowned 6 All Region performers and had 2 student-athletes earn trips to next weeks NCAA Championships in Sacramento, CA. Fr. Kineke Alexander and So. Peaches Roach once again qualified for the pinnacle of Division I track and field with their runner-up performances in the 400m and the high jump. Kineke bettered her PR with an incredible 52.34 to miss out on the individual title by a mere .07. This marks improves her place as the #3 Hawkeye All-time as she closes in on the school record set last year by Shellene Williams (51.94). So. Peaches Roach finished 2nd by virtue of more misses in the high jump to qualify for her 4th consecutive NCAA appearance. Both young ladies earned All-American honors indoors and will look to improve upon their performances (both were 6th). All total 10 Iowa Hawkeyes qualified for the NCAA Regional in the 100m, 100m hurdles, 400m, 800m, 1500m, 4 x 100m relay, 4 x 400m relay, shot put, hammer throw, triple jump, and high jump. With a very young group and all but 2 athletes from this group returning next season could be even more exciting. The results from the weekend are detailed below.

100m hurdles
So. Tiffany Johnson, the Big Ten Runner-up finished 14th in the prelim and failed to advance to the final with a time of 13.95. Tiffany also qualified for the triple jump, however, she did not compete in order to focus on the hurdles and the 4 x 100m relay.

400m
Fr. Kineke Alexander just missed being crowned the champion with her lifetime best of 52.34. She was a mere .07 out of 1st place and she passed 7 of the competitors in the final 100m.

800m
Sr. Aisha hume continued her outstanding finish to her career with another PR this weekend. She improved her PR by one second at the Big Ten meet 2 weeks ago and dropped another second to 2:08.50 this weekend. Her performance moves her to #3 all-time and finished 11th in the prelim, .43 seconds out of a spot in the final.

1500m
Fr. Meghan Armstrong went for it all crossing the 800m mark in 2:21.83 en route to her 9th place finish in the 1500m. She missed All Region honors by one spot with her performance. Meghan capped and awesome Fr. year, where she raced to a 5th place at the Big Ten meet and PRs at 1500m (4:27.10), 3000m (9:49.70), the mile (4:53) and the 800m (2:12.62 at Drake Relays). Look for more great things from her this fall as she makes a run at All-Big Ten in CC.

4 x 400m relay
The quartet of So. Lindsey McCalla (56.11), Fr. Kineke Alexander (52.28), So. Erin Sheeley (57.03), and Sr. Aisha Hume (54.09) raced to an 8th place and All-Region performance in the final event of the meet. Their time of 3:39.67 moves was a seasonal best and moves this group to # 2 all-time.

High Jump
So. Peaches Roach finished 2nd by virtue of more misses and earned her 4th consecutive trip to the National Championships. Coming off her All-American performance this past indoor Peaches will look to improve upon her placing at the NCAA meet. She was also qualified for the Regional in the 100m, however, did not race it to concentrate on the high jump and the 4 x 100m relay.

Shot Put
Sr. Kamesha Marshall finished 9th in her final collegiate event, missing All-Region by 1 spot.

Hammer Throw
So. Becca Franklin finished 18th in the hammer throw at her first NCAA Regional meet. She has improved over 50 feet this year and established herself for the future.

The HawkeyeHarriers.com web site will have more updates this week, with results, photos from meets and a preview of one of the training sites used by the team (Squire Point). With the NCAA beginning next week look for a final season email with news from the National Championships. I trust that your summer is either off to a great start or about ready to get underway if you are still in school. For those who have graduated or will be graduating I extend my congratulations to you. For those still racing I wish you all the best with your upcoming meets. July 1st begins the new recruiting cycle and I will be contacting all rising Seniors. I hope you are having a great Memorial Day weekend and enjoying a barbeque with family and friends.

"Do not follow where the path may lead. Go intead where there is no path and leave a trail."

On Iowa! Go Hawkeyes!