Iowa
Hawkeyes Hammer Personal Bests at Musco Twilight
IOWA CITY, Iowa – University of Iowa track and field opened the 22nd-annual Musco Twilight with the three personal bests in the hammer throw at the Francis X. Cretzmeyer Track on Friday afternoon.
Sophomores Sean Smith and Austin Busch stood out in the men’s hammer throw, claiming the top two spots and moving up Iowa’s all-time lists with personal bests. Smith, a native of Webster, New York, came within two-tenths of a meter of the school record on his fifth attempt, throwing 67.78 meters (222’ 4”). In his final attempt from the circle, Busch launched the hammer a lifetime-best 65.22 meters (213’ 11”) and received a large roar from the Hawkeye faithful.
In the women’s hammer throw, senior Alivia Bauer fired a lifetime best for the top collegiate finish. Bauer’s 56.64 meter (185’ 10”) toss improves upon her seventh all-time standing in Iowa program history.
Senior Jamie Kofron placed third with a 52.33 meter (171’ 8”) throw.
QUOTING THROWS COACH RAY ROBINSON
“We had a really good day. We knew all week in training that Sean Smith and Austin Busch were ready to go. We are making the last push towards championship season. We manipulated their weight room activity and manipulated their ball set in the hammer to get them geared up for that. Today was a sneak peak. Sean had some much bigger fouls. Austin took awhile to get going, but he is still really young in just his second season throwing the hammer. To have the number two and five marks of all time at Iowa from a freshman and a sophomore is pretty impressive. Those two guys are going to get a lot better. It was exciting. It was a fun atmosphere.
“Jamie Kofron finished with a really nice throw in round six. I was proud to see that for her. Alivia Bauer getting the collegiate win was huge. She had a PR and her best collegiate series ever, by far. Much bigger throws are on the horizon for her. We are excited for where the group is at and are excited for tomorrow.”
UP NEXT
Iowa hosts the Musco Twilight on April 20 at Francis X. Cretzmeyer Track in Iowa City, Iowa.
HAWKEYE RESULTS
Men’s Hammer Throw
1. Sean Smith – 67.78 meters (222’ 4”), PR + 2nd at Iowa
2. Austin Busch – 65.22 meters (213’ 11”), PR + 5th at Iowa
10. Walker Whalen – 51.32 meters (168’4”)
Women’s Hammer Throw (Collegiate Standings)
1. Alivia Bauer – 56.64 meters (185’ 10”), PR + 7th at Iowa
3. Jamie Kofron – 52.33 meters (171’ 8”)
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IOWA CITY — In what has been an active transfer portal window for Iowa football, the Hawkeyes added to their offensive line room with the commitment of Trent Wilson.
Wilson appeared in all 14 games as a true freshman at James Madison last season, including one start. The Dukes made the College Football Playoff and finished the season 12-2 overall.
The 6-foot-4, 300-pound lineman has three seasons of eligibility remaining.
Iowa is losing three starters from its Joe Moore Award-winning offensive line last season. The Hawkeyes started the same five offensive linemen every game in 2025: Trevor Lauck, Beau Stephens, Logan Jones, Kade Pieper and Gennings Dunker. Stephens, Jones and Dunker are departing the program.
At the very least, Wilson gives Iowa more depth in that room next season as the Hawkeyes try to replace some serious experience and production.
Wilson is not the only player to transfer from James Madison to Iowa. Tyler Brown, who started all 14 games at free safety for the Dukes last season and ranked second on the team in total tackles with 80, is joining Wilson in Iowa City.
Wilson detailed his commitment to Iowa, providing typed responses via social media to the Register:
Note: Answers have been edited slightly for clarity and grammatical accuracy.
On why he committed to Iowa
“I committed to Iowa because of the culture. At Iowa, offensive linemen get sent to the NFL, and the team isn’t ‘flashy’ (like) other teams, they just want to win. On my visit, Iowa toured me around the facilities, which were amazing, but my favorite part was talking to the coaches. In the meeting, (offensive line coach George Barnett) spoke my language exactly. He spoke about the drive it takes to win and how their linemen play, and I immediately felt at home. Walking out of that meeting, I knew I was going to commit.”
More insight from Wilson on his commitment to Iowa
“As for JMU, and even my high school, I come from a winning culture. I knew what college I picked couldn’t be satisfied with a mediocre season. This also led me to picking Iowa, as they are one of the winningest programs in the Big Ten. Since I was young, I’ve dreamed of having a dedication to a college team, then going to the NFL. At Iowa, I feel I can make this happen. That’s why I’m committed.”
What Wilson learned from getting meaningful playing time on a winning team as a true freshman
“I learned (I) could play with anyone. Going into college, I was nervous that all the other athletes would be a lot bigger, faster, and stronger than me. At JMU, especially against Oregon (in the College Football Playoff), I proved that I can compete with anyone.”
Wilson describes his skillset
“Aggressive and intelligent. I’m going to give my all every play, all while knowing exactly what’s going on in the defense and seeing their movement. After I pick up the movement, I’ll make sure to put them on their back.”
Follow Tyler Tachman on X @Tyler_T15, contact via email at ttachman@gannett.com
TIFFIN, Iowa — Authorities have now identified Lee Earl Krogh, 57, of Iowa City, as the man killed in a shooting outside an apartment building in Tiffin late Saturday morning.
Deputies responded to the 400 block of Iris Court at about 11:44 a.m. and found Krogh outside the building suffering from a gunshot wound, the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office said.
Emergency crews took Krogh to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, where he was pronounced dead.
Investigators said the shooting appears to be isolated and does not pose an ongoing threat to the public. No arrests have been announced, and authorities have not released information about a suspect or motive.
The investigation is ongoing.
In five of six legislative special elections last year, Democrats overperformed by more than 20 percentage points compared with the 2024 presidential election.
Here are the top 2026 midterm races to follow in Iowa
Des Moines Register Chief Politics Reporter Brianne Pfannenstiel breaks down Iowa’s top races ahead of the 2026 midterms.
Iowa Democrats ended 2025 on a high note, winning a Dec. 30 special election in Des Moines’ western suburbs by a wider margin than during the presidential election.
That capped off a year in which Democrats won four of the six legislative special elections and ended Republicans’ supermajority in the Iowa Senate.
In five of those six special elections, Democrats overperformed by more than 20 percentage points compared with 2024.
They’ll look to build off the momentum going into the pivotal 2026 midterms that will include open races for governor and U.S. senator as well as regular Iowa congressional and Legislature elections.
Whether 2025’s Democratic Party victories are bellwethers or blips will play out this year.
Democrats saw Iowa special elections consistently tilt left
Though Republicans won in two special elections in 2025s, their margins of victory were significantly smaller than 2024.
Republican Wendy Larson won December’s special election for the vacant seat in House District 7 by 40 points. That’s a wide margin, but wide margins are expected for Republicans in that part of the state: The party holds strong advantages in voter registration totals in Calhoun, Pocahontas, Sac and Webster counties, where the district is located.
And even that 40-point margin represented a shift toward the Democrats.
In the 2024 presidential election, Republican Donald Trump defeated Democrat Kamala Harris by 50 points in House District 7. Democrats didn’t even field a candidate for the district’s legislative seat that year.
The 10-point shift toward Democrats from the 2024 presidential election to the 2025 special election in House District 7 was the smallest of any legislative district that held a special election last year.
Each of the five other districts shifted toward Democrats by more than twice as much.
Moreover, those special elections were spread across the state.
Democrats consistently gathered a greater share of votes from Senate District 1 in the northwest part of the state to House District 100 in the state’s southeast corner, ranging from 10 to 26 percentage points.
The two seats Democrats flipped in special elections — Senate Districts 1 and 35 — each shifted to the left by more than 20 points compared with the 2024 presidential election.
In Senate District 1, Trump outpaced Harris by 11 percentage points in 2024, while Democrat Caitlin Drey won the seat there by more than 10 points in August.
In Senate District 35, Trump’s victory margin in Senate District 35 was more than 21 points. In January 2025, Democrat Mike Zimmer won the district’s Senate seat by 3½ points.
In 2022, Republicans won both those seats by even wider margins than Trump in 2024.
Should Democrats expect momentum to carry over to 2026?
Pushing voters to the left in six isolated special elections is one thing. Parlaying those successes into November’s midterm elections is quite another.
Turnout was key in 2025’s special elections, and it will be again in 2026.
The numbers of votes cast in 2025’s special elections equaled roughly one-quarter to one-third the votes cast in the 2024 presidential election in those districts.
Turnout should be higher in November’s midterms.
Since 2000, the percentage of Iowa’s registered voters who have participated in the midterm elections typically has hovered around 55%. (About 75% of registered Iowans usually vote in presidential elections.)
But what determines an election is less about the number of people who show up and more about who those people are.
An increased share of those who went to the polls in the special elections were Democratic voters — or, perhaps more accurately, a greater number of Republican voters stayed home.
Republicans will be working to get those voters back to the polls this November.
Republicans maintain advantage in Iowa voter registration data
The leftward shift in last year’s special elections has yet to materialize in Iowa’s voter registration numbers.
Over roughly the past 15 years, voter registrations in Iowa have swung heavily toward Republicans.
Democrats, conversely, have lost 200,000 voters in that time, and Republicans have opened up an overall advantage of more than 10 percentage points.
Despite their victories at the ballot box in 2025, Democrats have not chipped into Republicans’ significant lead in voter registrations.
Last year was the first since at least 2000 when the share of active voters who were Republicans was at least 10 percentage points higher than the share who were Democrats throughout the entire year.
Republicans began 2026 with nearly 200,000 more active registered voters than Democrats, among their largest leads this century.
Those two parties do not comprise the entirety of Iowa’s electorate — a large share of Iowa’s active voters are not registered to a party, and a smaller amount are registered to other parties, including Libertarians.
And just because a voter is registered as a Democrat or Republican doesn’t mean they’ll vote for their party’s candidates.
But the large voter deficit indicates Democrats are starting from a less favorable position.
Their special election victories in 2025 proved they can win elections, but they’ll need to make up some ground to replicate that success in 2026.
Tim Webber is a data visualization specialist for the Register. Reach him at twebber@registermedia.com and on Twitter at @HelloTimWebber.
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