The weekend has finally come for the Iowa track and field team.In Geneva, Ohio, today and Saturday, 12 Big Ten teams will compete for the indoor conference championship.
“I hope that everyone is dreaming about a ring,” Briana Guillory said. “I want that for all of us so we can have an accomplishment together to show for.”
According to the most recent U.S. Track and Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association rankings, the Hawkeye women are in ninth place in relation to their Big Ten opponents. The Hawkeye men rank seventh.
Iowa will need its best performances to compete for titles on the men’s and women’s sides this weekend. Though the teams technically rank behind what seems to be a myriad of foes, the gap is narrow. After all, both the Iowa men and women are in the top 50 in the nation.
Both teams have top-performing athletes in the country, and their seasons thus far have shown the squads have top-level performers in many different events. At the Big Tens, the teams’ success will be reliant on how many athletes can score points for their team.
Guillory leads the Big Ten in both the 200 and 400. She’s also a part of the 4×400 relay team that ranks second in the Big Ten.
“I feel prepared,” she said. “I’ve done everything I was instructed to do up until this point, so there is no point in worrying. My expectation is to do better than ever.”
Jahisha Thomas leads the Big Ten in the triple jump and is second in the long jump as well.
Laulauga Tausaga shattered school records in the shot put and weight throw this season, continually placing higher and higher in her events. She ranks fifth in the Big Ten in the shot put and ninth in the weight throw. Her numbers have increased throughout the season, so there’s no telling what kind of performance she could produce at the championships.
The men’s side of competition has a plethora of highly ranked athletes, including Reno Tuufuli (sixth in the shot put), Chris Douglas (first in the 60-meter hurdles), and William Dougherty (fifth in the heptathlon).
Mar’Yea Harris is first in the Big Ten in the 400 and third in the 600, and he anchors the Big Ten-leading 4×400 relay team.
“I feel really good,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve ever been this prepared for a Big Ten championship. Individually, I want to make the finals, and I think we should win the 4×400 relay.”
The men’s distance-medley-relay team, Nathan Mylenek, Collin Hofacker, Carter Lilly, and Michael Melchert, broke the school record last weekend at the Alex Wilson Invitational. That mark ranks third in the Big Ten.
Lilly is fifth in the Big Ten in the 600 and sixth in the 800. Melchert is seventh in the mile.
The team’s mindset, even after personal best times and marks throughout the season, has always been on the Big Tens. The upperclassmen finally have a team that can match its aspirations to compete for a title.
“I hope everyone gets a new personal record,” Harris said. “I always get super excited when my teammates are able to do that.”
