2008 Woodie Awards
Sports Briefs
Issue date: 4/14/08 Section: Sports
Baseball
The Hawkeyes and Hoosiers traded punches in a weekend slugfest in which the teams scored a combined 76 runs over the four-game set. The Hawkeyes took the final three games, pulling into seventh place in the Big Ten at 4-8 in the conference, 12-18 overall.
In the April 11 contest, Iowa overcame eight Hoosier runs allowed by senior pitcher Brock Alberts to take a 12-9 lead, thanks in large part to four runs on five hits in the eighth. But Indiana scored four unanswered runs off junior pitcher Andrew Porter over the next two innings to eke out a 13-12 victory.
Iowa fell behind 7-0 over the first two innings of Game 1 on April 12 but then scored seven, three, and two over the next three frames to take a 12-7 lead. Indiana's Josh Phegley hit a grand slam to make it a one-run game, but Iowa held on, 12-11, earning its second conference win of the year.
The Hawkeyes plated two early runs in the nightcap, but then fell behind 7-2. They scored six runs in the fourth to lead 8-7 before Phegley tied the game on a solo shot in the bottom of the inning. The Hoosier catcher added an RBI single in the next inning to give Indiana a 10-9 advantage, but the Hawkeyes plated four over the next two innings to sweep the double-header, 13-10.
In Sunday's series finale, freshman Kurtis Muller hit a two-run homer in the second and added a two-run single in the third to help lead the Hawkeyes to a 10-5 win.
- by Diane Hendrickson
Women's track
The Iowa women's track and field team had a successful weekend of competition at the Sun Angel Classic in Tempe, Ariz., and the Lee Calhoun Memorial Invitational in Macomb, Ill.
Junior Renee White, who competed at the Sun Angel Classic, broke her own school record while winning the triple jump and improved on her regional qualifying mark with a leap of 42-4. Her previous best was 42-21?2, which she set last year at the Big Ten championships.
"Renee's performance was definitely the highlight of the weekend," coach Layne Anderson said.
The Hawkeyes fared even better in Macomb, as Iowa posted the top four runners in the 1,500-meter race. Junior Krista Anderson finished first with a time of 4:43.73. Freshman Lauren Hardesty finished second at 4:51.61, sophomore Katie Ellis third at 4:51.84, and freshman Amanda Hardesty placed fourth at 4:53.67.
- by Jeff Pawola
Rowing
The Iowa rowing team successfully glides on.
Winning seven of nine races over this past weekend at the George Washington Invitational Regatta, the crew took home the Howard W. Wilkins Bowl given to the first-place women's team.
Improving upon a lackluster performance last year in Washington, D.C., the Hawkeyes dominated the field en route to scoring 108 points, 13 more than second-place Navy and an astonishing 51 points ahead of St. Joseph's, which finished third.
Both the varsity 8 boat and the novice 8 boats went undefeated, notching big wins over Navy and George Washington on both April 11 and 12.
With both men's and women's teams competing in the regatta, Navy grabbed the Gilbert H. Hood, Jr. Point Trophy which is given annually to the combined-point-total champion. Iowa alone scored more points than George Washington's men's and women's teams combined to finish in third place, tying Georgetown in the combined standings.
Next up for the Hawkeyes will be Big Ten competition at the Double Dual in Columbus, Ohio on April 19.
- by Tim McLaughlin
Men's track
Despite canceling the team's trip to Western Illinois because of the weather, the Iowa men's track team added two more regional qualifiers over the weekend at the Sun Angel Classic in Tempe, Ariz. The Hawkeyes also competed four at the nearby Mesa Community College Invitational.
Juniors John Hickey and A.J. Curtis both surpassed the regional mark in the shot put, reaching 61-091?2 and 57-051?2. The pair of throwers became the third and fourth regional qualifiers for the Hawkeyes, following sophomore Ray Varner and junior Andy Napier.
Napier beat the regional time in the 3,000-meter steeplechase for the second-straight time, running a personal best 9:01.20 to finish second in the event.
Chris Barton's 47.45 and Steven Willey's personal best of 47.73 resulted in second and fourth place in the 400 meters. In addition, the two freshmen ran two legs for the 4x400-meter relay team placing fourth in 3:11.21. With the exception of the freshmen and the regional qualifiers, the team didn't fulfill all of head coach Larry Wieczorek's expectations.
"I would maybe have hoped for a little bit more," he said. "I think we're really at a critical spot right now with our home meet and [the Drake Relays] coming up - I think it's crunch time for our team."
- by Alex Johnson
Men's golf
Bad weather brought high scores to this weekend's Kepler Intercollegiate in Columbus, Ohio. The Iowa men's golf team finished 80 over as a whole for the competition, placing 11th out of 14 teams.
Despite the low finish, two positive trends continued for the Hawkeyes this weekend.
The first was the play of Cole Peevler. The junior finished in a tie for second place after shooting even par on the final day. He started the tournament off shooting a 78, but rose up the leaderboard with a second-round 73. His final round score of 71 was one of the lowest of the tournament.
Senior Todd Larson had the second-best finish for the Hawkeyes, tying for 32nd. Behind Larson were senior Dan Holterhaus and freshman Vince India, who shared 53rd place with several others. Newcomer James Reiss was the final Hawkeye on the scorecard, finishing 74th.
The second positive was the team's consistent improvement from round-to-round. The Hawkeyes began the competition with a team score of 319 - the second-highest tally of the round - but adjusted well in the second round, carding a 312.
Coach Mark Hankins' team saved its best performance for the final day, as Iowa made an impressive 11-stroke improvement to finish with a 301.
- by Sean Monahan
Men's tennis
The 53rd-ranked Iowa men's tennis team went 1-1 in match play as a flip-the-script weekend saw the Hawkeyes lose 6-1 to No. 32 Wisconsin on April 12, then win by the same score on Sunday against Northwestern. The Hawkeyes are now 11-8 on the year.
The Badgers wiped out the Hawkeyes despite some highly contested singles matches. The only win was in the No. 1 spot, as No. 69 Bart van Monsjou defeated 44th-ranked Moritz Baumann. The victory gave the senior his 15th win over nationally ranked opponents this year.
It was a totally different story for Iowa on Sunday. The Hawkeyes came out firing against Northwestern, winning all six singles matches after dropping the doubles point to defeat the Wildcats, 6-1.
The Hawkeyes are 3-5 in the Big Ten, but they can get back to .500 as two matches remain on the schedule. Iowa returns to action this weekend as it takes on Purdue and Illinois at home before hosting the Big Ten Tournament April 24-27.
- by Bobby Loesch
The Hawkeyes and Hoosiers traded punches in a weekend slugfest in which the teams scored a combined 76 runs over the four-game set. The Hawkeyes took the final three games, pulling into seventh place in the Big Ten at 4-8 in the conference, 12-18 overall.
In the April 11 contest, Iowa overcame eight Hoosier runs allowed by senior pitcher Brock Alberts to take a 12-9 lead, thanks in large part to four runs on five hits in the eighth. But Indiana scored four unanswered runs off junior pitcher Andrew Porter over the next two innings to eke out a 13-12 victory.
Iowa fell behind 7-0 over the first two innings of Game 1 on April 12 but then scored seven, three, and two over the next three frames to take a 12-7 lead. Indiana's Josh Phegley hit a grand slam to make it a one-run game, but Iowa held on, 12-11, earning its second conference win of the year.
The Hawkeyes plated two early runs in the nightcap, but then fell behind 7-2. They scored six runs in the fourth to lead 8-7 before Phegley tied the game on a solo shot in the bottom of the inning. The Hoosier catcher added an RBI single in the next inning to give Indiana a 10-9 advantage, but the Hawkeyes plated four over the next two innings to sweep the double-header, 13-10.
In Sunday's series finale, freshman Kurtis Muller hit a two-run homer in the second and added a two-run single in the third to help lead the Hawkeyes to a 10-5 win.
- by Diane Hendrickson
Women's track
The Iowa women's track and field team had a successful weekend of competition at the Sun Angel Classic in Tempe, Ariz., and the Lee Calhoun Memorial Invitational in Macomb, Ill.
Junior Renee White, who competed at the Sun Angel Classic, broke her own school record while winning the triple jump and improved on her regional qualifying mark with a leap of 42-4. Her previous best was 42-21?2, which she set last year at the Big Ten championships.
"Renee's performance was definitely the highlight of the weekend," coach Layne Anderson said.
The Hawkeyes fared even better in Macomb, as Iowa posted the top four runners in the 1,500-meter race. Junior Krista Anderson finished first with a time of 4:43.73. Freshman Lauren Hardesty finished second at 4:51.61, sophomore Katie Ellis third at 4:51.84, and freshman Amanda Hardesty placed fourth at 4:53.67.
- by Jeff Pawola
Rowing
The Iowa rowing team successfully glides on.
Winning seven of nine races over this past weekend at the George Washington Invitational Regatta, the crew took home the Howard W. Wilkins Bowl given to the first-place women's team.
Improving upon a lackluster performance last year in Washington, D.C., the Hawkeyes dominated the field en route to scoring 108 points, 13 more than second-place Navy and an astonishing 51 points ahead of St. Joseph's, which finished third.
Both the varsity 8 boat and the novice 8 boats went undefeated, notching big wins over Navy and George Washington on both April 11 and 12.
With both men's and women's teams competing in the regatta, Navy grabbed the Gilbert H. Hood, Jr. Point Trophy which is given annually to the combined-point-total champion. Iowa alone scored more points than George Washington's men's and women's teams combined to finish in third place, tying Georgetown in the combined standings.
Next up for the Hawkeyes will be Big Ten competition at the Double Dual in Columbus, Ohio on April 19.
- by Tim McLaughlin
Men's track
Despite canceling the team's trip to Western Illinois because of the weather, the Iowa men's track team added two more regional qualifiers over the weekend at the Sun Angel Classic in Tempe, Ariz. The Hawkeyes also competed four at the nearby Mesa Community College Invitational.
Juniors John Hickey and A.J. Curtis both surpassed the regional mark in the shot put, reaching 61-091?2 and 57-051?2. The pair of throwers became the third and fourth regional qualifiers for the Hawkeyes, following sophomore Ray Varner and junior Andy Napier.
Napier beat the regional time in the 3,000-meter steeplechase for the second-straight time, running a personal best 9:01.20 to finish second in the event.
Chris Barton's 47.45 and Steven Willey's personal best of 47.73 resulted in second and fourth place in the 400 meters. In addition, the two freshmen ran two legs for the 4x400-meter relay team placing fourth in 3:11.21. With the exception of the freshmen and the regional qualifiers, the team didn't fulfill all of head coach Larry Wieczorek's expectations.
"I would maybe have hoped for a little bit more," he said. "I think we're really at a critical spot right now with our home meet and [the Drake Relays] coming up - I think it's crunch time for our team."
- by Alex Johnson
Men's golf
Bad weather brought high scores to this weekend's Kepler Intercollegiate in Columbus, Ohio. The Iowa men's golf team finished 80 over as a whole for the competition, placing 11th out of 14 teams.
Despite the low finish, two positive trends continued for the Hawkeyes this weekend.
The first was the play of Cole Peevler. The junior finished in a tie for second place after shooting even par on the final day. He started the tournament off shooting a 78, but rose up the leaderboard with a second-round 73. His final round score of 71 was one of the lowest of the tournament.
Senior Todd Larson had the second-best finish for the Hawkeyes, tying for 32nd. Behind Larson were senior Dan Holterhaus and freshman Vince India, who shared 53rd place with several others. Newcomer James Reiss was the final Hawkeye on the scorecard, finishing 74th.
The second positive was the team's consistent improvement from round-to-round. The Hawkeyes began the competition with a team score of 319 - the second-highest tally of the round - but adjusted well in the second round, carding a 312.
Coach Mark Hankins' team saved its best performance for the final day, as Iowa made an impressive 11-stroke improvement to finish with a 301.
- by Sean Monahan
Men's tennis
The 53rd-ranked Iowa men's tennis team went 1-1 in match play as a flip-the-script weekend saw the Hawkeyes lose 6-1 to No. 32 Wisconsin on April 12, then win by the same score on Sunday against Northwestern. The Hawkeyes are now 11-8 on the year.
The Badgers wiped out the Hawkeyes despite some highly contested singles matches. The only win was in the No. 1 spot, as No. 69 Bart van Monsjou defeated 44th-ranked Moritz Baumann. The victory gave the senior his 15th win over nationally ranked opponents this year.
It was a totally different story for Iowa on Sunday. The Hawkeyes came out firing against Northwestern, winning all six singles matches after dropping the doubles point to defeat the Wildcats, 6-1.
The Hawkeyes are 3-5 in the Big Ten, but they can get back to .500 as two matches remain on the schedule. Iowa returns to action this weekend as it takes on Purdue and Illinois at home before hosting the Big Ten Tournament April 24-27.
- by Bobby Loesch
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