13 Hawkeyes Set for NCAA Championships

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THIS WEEK 

The University of Iowa track and field team travels to Eugene, Oregon, to compete in the 2018 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships from June 6-9.

The Hawkeyes compete 13 athletes in 16 events at the NCAA final site on the campus of the University of Oregon. The event starts on Wednesday at 2:20 p.m. (CT) and ends on Saturday with the first event scheduled for 2:30 p.m.

FOLLOW ALONG

Fans can follow results at hawkeyesports.com/tracklive. Notable results from each meet will be posted on the team’s official twitter account @iowaxc_tf. All live results links will be posted on the team’s schedule page at hawkeyesports.com.

BROADCAST INFO

The NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships air on the ESPN networks.

ESPN will air the meet on June 8, beginning at 7:30 p.m. (CT) and June 9 at 5:30 p.m.

ESPN2 will broadcast the meet June 6 at 6:30 p.m. and June 7 at 6 p.m.

ESPN3 will air multi-events and field events, beginning at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, 11:50 p.m. on Thursday, 2:20 p.m. on Friday, and 4:50 p.m. on Saturday.

HAWKEYE QUALIFIERS

The Hawkeyes qualified 13 athletes in a school-record setting 16 events to the NCAA Championships, including 10 returnees and three first time qualifiers. Of Iowa’s 13 qualifiers, eight compete in individual events -- four running, three field, one multi-event.

The Hawkeye women qualified four athletes in seven events, including senior Brittany Brown (100 meters, 200 meters), junior Briana Guillory (400 meters), sophomore Laulauga Tausaga (shot put, discus), and senior Jahisha Thomas (long jump, triple jump).

The men are sending nine athletes in eight events, including junior Mar’yea Harris (400 meters, 4x400, 4x100), junior DeJuan Frye (4x400), sophomore Collin Hofacker (4x400, 4x100), sophomore Antonio Woodard (4x400, 4x100), sophomore Matt Manternach (800 meters), senior O’Shea Wilson (4x100), junior Reno Tuufuli (shot put, discus), junior Chris Douglas (110-meter hurdles, 400-meter hurdles), and senior Will Dougherty (decathlon).

QUALIFIERS/EVENT/SCHEDULE (PT, local to site)

Brittany Brown, senior (Upland, California)

100 meters - Thursday, 5:16 p.m. (s); Saturday, 4:22 p.m. (f)

200 meters - Thurday, 6:14 p.m. (s); Saturday, 5:07 p.m. (f)

Brown is making her fourth trip to the NCAA final site. She was a two-time qualifi er as a freshman in 2014, anchoring the 400-meter relay to a 16th place finish and placing 11th in the 200 meters. She returned to the 200-meters semifinals in 2015 and placed 17th. Following an injury-riddled season in 2016, Brown finished seventh in the country in the 200 meters in 2017.

Brown is a four-time 200 meter Big Ten Champion and finished 10th in the west region in the 200 meters and ninth in the 100 meters.

Will Dougherty, senior, (Moville, Iowa)

Decathlon - Wednesday, 12:30 p.m. | Thursday, 10 a.m.

Dougherty appears in his third straight NCAA Championships. Dougherty completed six events in 2016 before withdrawing due to injury. In 2017, Dougherty finished 17th in the decathlon with 7,199 points. Dougherty broke his own school record this season in the decathlon at the Bryan Clay Invitational with 7,673 points. Doughety enters the NCAA Championships as the No. 13 seed.

Chris Douglas, Junior, (Deerfield, Illinois)

110-Meter hurdles - Wednesday, 5:32 p.m. (s), Friday, 6:12 p.m. (f)

400-Meter hurdles - Wednesday, 6:30 p.m. (s), Friday, 6:57 p.m. (f)

Douglas is making his first appearance at the NCAA Championships in the 110-meter hurdles and 400-meter hurdles. Douglas, a third place finisher in the 400-meter hurdles and sixth place finisher in the 110-meter hurdles at the Big Ten Championships, enters the NCAA Championships with the final qualifying spot in both events.

Douglas is tied for sixth in Iowa history in the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 13.88 and is fourth all-time in the 400-meter hurdles (50.44).

DeJuan Frye, Junior, (Lacey, Washington)

4x400 meter relay - Wednesday, 7:48 p.m. (s); Friday, 7:51 p.m. (f) 

Frye is making his second consecutive appearance at the NCAA Championships. Frye ran on Iowa’s third place relay at the 2017 NCAA Championships, running a school-record setting 3:01.91. Frye won his first Big Ten Championship in the event in May, finishing with a time of 3:06.32. Frye ran the first leg on Iowa’s relay that finished seventh in the West Preliminary.

Frye helped Iowa to a second consecutive Drake Relays team title, winning the 4x400 meter relay with a time of 3:05.05.

Briana Guillory, Junior, (Antioch, California)

400 meters - Thursday, 5:30 p.m. (s); Saturday 4:32 p.m. (f)

Guillory is making her second NCAA semifinal appearance. She was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year, winning the 200 meters in 22.95, the second fastest time in school history, and running the second leg of the championship record- and the then-school-record-setting 1,600-meter relay (3:31.22) in 2014.

The 2018 Big Ten indoor 400 meter champion finished sixth in the country in the 400 meters during at the 2018 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships and finished seventh in the west region in the event with a personal best time of 51.85.

Mar’yea Harris, Junior, (Auburn, Washinton)

400 meters - Wednesday, 6 p.m. (s), Friday, 6:32 p.m. (f)

4x400 meter relay - Wednesday, 7:48 p.m. (s); Friday, 7:51 p.m. (f) 

4x100 meter relay - Wednesday, 4:32 p.m. (s); Friday, 5:32 p.m. (f)

Harris is making his third consecutive NCAA Championships appearance. Harris finished 18th in the open 400 meters in 2016 and 10th in the event in 2017. Harris’ 44.98 at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships earned him a gold medal and a school record in the event, breaking a 25-year-old record set by Anthuan Maybank. In the 1,600-meter relay, Harris is a 2017 outdoor first-team All-American after running the second leg on a then-school record setting relay 3:01.91 for a third place finish.

Harris finished fifth in the West Preliminary in the 400 meters and ran on Iowa’s 400-meter relay that finished 11th in the region.

Collin Hofacker, sophomore, (Freedom, Wisconsin)

4x400 meter relay - Wednesday, 7:48 p.m. (s); Friday, 7:51 p.m. (f) 

4x100 meter relay - Wednesday, 4:32 p.m. (s); Friday, 5:32 p.m. (f)

Hofacker returns to the NCAA Championships for the second consecutive year in the 1,600-meter relay and first in the 400-meter relay. Hofacker ran the third leg on Iowa’s third place 1,600-meter relay during the 2017 outdoor season to garner first-team All-America honors. They finished seventh in the West Preliminary. He ran on Iowa’s 400-meter relay that is making its sixth consecutive trip to the NCAA final site.

Hofacker has run on six of Iowa’s top-10 all-time 1,600-meter relays and is a 2017 and 2018 Drake Relays Champion in the event. His personal best in the open 400 (46.50) ranks 10th in school history.

Matt Manternach, sophomore, (Monticello, Iowa)

800 meters - Wednesday, 6:14 p.m. (s); Thursday, 6:44 p.m. (f)

Manternach enters his first NCAA Championships in the 800 meters. Manternach ran the seventh fastest time at the NCAA West Preliminary at 1:48.63 to automatically qualify for the final site. Manternach is a 2017 Drake Relays champion in the 4x800 meter relay, finished runner-up in the event in 2018, and was third in the distance medley relay.

Manternach looks to become the third All-American in Iowa history in the 800 meters.

Laulauga Tausaga, sophomore, (Spring Valley, California)

Shot Put - Thursday, 6:10 p.m.

Discus - Saturday, 3:05 p.m.

Tausaga is making her second straight NCAA Championships appearance in the discus and first in the shot put. Tausaga became the seventh person in Big Ten history to win the shot put and discus titles at the same conference meet and first to do so in eight years. Tausaga owns school records in the shot put and discus throw.

Tausaga finished fourth in the discus throw and sixth in the shot put at the West Preliminary in Sacramento, California.

Jahisha Thomas, senior, (London, United Kingdom)

Long Jump - Thurday, 5:30 p.m.

Triple Jump - Saturday, 3:40 p.m.

Thomas is making her third straight appearance at the NCAA Championships final site. She placed 15th in long jump in 2016 and 16th in 2017. Thomas is the first Hawkeye in school history to advance to the NCAA finals in the long jump and triple jump. Thomas won the West Preliminary in the long jump, while finishing runner-up in the triple jump with a school-record setting mark of 44-2.

Reno Tuufuli, Junior, (Las Vegas, Nevada)

Shot Put - Wednesday, 6:40 p.m.

Discus - Friday, 5:05 p.m.

Tuufuli is making his third appearance at the NCAA Championships in the discus and first in the shot put. Tuufuli fouled out of the discus in 2016, but bounced back in 2017 for a fifth place finish in the country. Tuufuli is second in school history in the event behind Gabe Hull’s 207-1 from 2014. For the second consecutive season Tuufuli finished second in the discus at the Big Ten Championships, but scored in the shot put for the second straight season with a sixth place finish. Tuufuli finished first in the West Preliminary in the discus.

In the shot put, Tuufuli finished seventh in the West Preliminary with a mark of 62-10.75. Tuufuli is second in school history in the event behind Jeremy Allan (63-2.75).

O’Shea Wilson, senior, (Houston, Texas) 

4x100 meter relay - Wednesday, 4:32 p.m. (s); Friday, 5:32 p.m. (f)

Wilson enters his second consecutive and third NCAA Championships overall. Wilson and the relay ran 40.04 to finish 11th at the NCAA West Preliminary.

The Hawkeyes’ 400-meter relay is making its sixth consecutive appearance at the NCAA final site. Iowa placed sixth in 2013, sixth in 2014, 12th in 2015, 16th in 2016, and 12th in 2017.

Antonio Woodard, sophomore, (Rancho Cucamongo, California)

4x400 meter relay - Wednesday, 7:48 p.m. (s); Friday, 7:51 p.m. (f) 

4x100 meter relay - Wednesday, 4:32 p.m. (s); Friday, 5:32 p.m. (f)

Woodard is set to compete in his first NCAA Championships. Woodard ran the second leg on Iowa’s 4x400 meter relay that finished seventh in the west region with a seasons best time of 3:03.69. Woodard also ran on Iowa’s 400-meter relay that finished 11th in the West Preliminary.

In the open 100 meters, Woodard ranks ninth in school history with a time of 10.34. This is Woodard’s first year on Iowa’s 400-meter relay that is making its sixth straight appearance at the NCAA final site.

UP NEXT 

The Hawkeyes enter the offseason looking ahead to the 2018 Cross Country season, which begins in September.


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