SOUTH BEND, Indiana -- Sophomore Laulauga Tausaga set another school record at the Meyo Invitational, while junior Briana Guillory continued to light up the track at the Frank Sevigne Invitational on Friday.
After setting the school’s shot put record at the Larry Wieczorek Invitational and Black & Gold Premier, Tausaga took down the weight throw record with a throw of 19.93 meters (65 feet, 4 inches).
“She is a phenomenal athlete,” UI director of track and field Joey Woody said. “She can throw a lot of different events and it’s a tribute to her athleticism and ability to pick things up quickly and absorb coach Werskey’s coaching. I am excited to see what she can do tomorrow too.”
Guillory ran a personal best 52.57 to win the 400 meters at the Frank Sevigne Invitational. She moves into third on Iowa’s all-time list and third in the country.
GOING THE DISTANCE
Juniors Daniel Soto and Ian Eklin paced themselves to personal bests in the 5,000 meters. Eklin won the first of two sections with a personal best time of 14:41, which is a 15 second personal best.
“Coming into the race and after talking to coach, a lot of my training was at 14:40 and to hit 14:41 is little bit outside the range so I am not too upset about it,” Eklin said. “I am excited because I feel like a lot of my training and hard work I’ve put in over the past couple years is finally starting to catch up with me.”
Soto raced in the second section to a fourth place overall finish with a time of 14:25.42. The race was his first indoor 5,000 meters of his career.
“I am pretty happy with both the placing and the time,” Soto said. “We thought anything that was 14:30 or faster was going to be a solid day, so 14:25 is right in the wheelhouse. I wouldn’t say it was completely out of the blue, but it took a good day to do it.”
MIDDLE DISTANCE MAYHEM
The first day of the Meyo Invitational wrapped up with the men’s and women’s 600 meters where six Hawkeyes set personal bests, including the third fastest time in school history on the men’s side.
Junior Mar’yea Harris ran 1:17.26 in the final section of the day to win the event and rank third all-time in Iowa history. Sophomore Matt Manternach also recorded a personal best time of 1:19.64 to place third.
The women saw four more personal bests in the 600 meters led by sophomore Mallory King (1:32.79) and followed by sophomore Tia Saunders (1:34.44), junior Sommer Sharpe (1:34.46), and freshman Addie Swanson (1:34.60).
“Sometimes it is hard running at 9 at night and the atmosphere was a little dead, but they still came out and competed at a high level,” Woody said. “It was good to see them progress and it will add a lot to where they are at in the next couple weeks because they can see the progression and they can see they are getting close to that 1:30 mark.”
NOTABLE
Freshman Kyara Avant set another personal best in the 60 meters with a time of 7.48 at the Frank Sevigne Invite. She moves into fifth in school history and remains fifth in the conference.
UP NEXT
The Hawkeyes conclude the Meyo Invitational and Frank Sevigne Invitational tomorrow. The Meyo Invitational resumes at 8:45 a.m. (CT) and the Frank Sevigne Invitational continues at 9:30 a.m. The Meyo Invitational will air on watchespn.com from 1-3 p.m. on Saturday.