By Jacob Miller
From walk-on to the Iowa record books, junior Carter Lilly has proven himself to not only be one of the best runners in Iowa history but in the nation.
“Carter’s a great story,” said Joey Woody, the Hawkeyedirector of track and field, said. “He’s a walk-on athlete from Sioux City and just came here and done an amazing job of believing in the training and trusting everything that coach Wakenight has given him, and just a great example of an Iowa kid doing some great things.”
Last weekend at the Meyo Invitational, Lilly won the 600 meters. But his biggest accomplishment came in the 800 meters, in which he broke the school record previously set by Erik Sowinski. The former Hawkeye is the Iowa record holder for the indoor 600 meters and used to have the indoor 800 meters record as well, with a time of 1:47.62. Lilly broke his 800 meter record with a time of 1:47.33.
“It’s always been one of my biggest goals,” Lilly said. “I see Erik around, and people always talk about him, he’s really good, professional runner obviously, so to be able to run faster than he did in college, I’m really excited to be able to do that.”
Lilly and Sowinski have gone head to head before, most recently in the 600 meters at the Wieczorek Invitational on Jan. 20. In that race, Sowinski edged out Lilly in the last 50 meters, but now both their names will be next to each other on the wall of Iowa track greats.
“I think he’s establishing himself as one of the very best mid distance runners in the country,” said associate head coach Jason Wakenight. “That’s obviously exciting for him and then as a group I think it is a source of pride for everybody. More than anything, we’re just looking to continue to progress and compete.”
Lilly’s time of 1:47.33 ranks third in the Big Ten and fifth in the nation. During the week leading up to the Meyo Invitational, the Hawkeyes began to pull back on training. Wakenight said, “At this point, the hay is in the barn,” and the biggest thing for the athletes to do now is to make sure that they stay fresh.
Throughout the month of January, Lilly and the Hawkeyes were training relentlessly and were not fresh for each meet. This continuous training was in preparation for February and beyond. Now, the training is still specific, but they’re pulling back on the volume of the training. The key is for the athletes to have fresh legs and avoid injuries before the Big Ten championship and ultimately the NCAA championship.
“[Lilly] has a lot of confidence right now, and a lot of that comes from his consistent training, and that’s the key to being successful is not just training at a high level, but training consistently at a high level,” Woody said. “He’s on a mission to get to the NCAA Championships and then make that final.”
