Another very full week of action for Iowa’s Olympic sports teams, with the spring season in full bloom now. Let’s dive into the action…

The Hawkeye track and field team put together another big weekend across multiple meets over the weekend, moving up the top-10 all-time Iowa leaderboard and setting a new school record in the women’s 800 meters.

Iowa kicked off the weekend at the Pepsi Florida Relays and set multiple top-10 marks. Isaac Lewis posted a career-best 49.68 in the men’s 400m hurdles, good for 3rd-best in Iowa history. Over in California, Yohana Yuval posted a 8:57.17 in the 3K steeple to move to 8th all-time in school history.

Saturday was a record-setting day for the Hawkeyes as Alli Bookin-Nosbisch reset the Iowa women’s 800m record with a career-best 2:02.92. Bookin-Nosbisch beat her own school record by three-tenths of a second as the senior continued her storied track career. She has long been a star in the relay and middle-distance races and continues find ways to improve each and every year. Gabby Cortez ran the 8th-best time in Iowa history in the same event, finishing in 2:06.46.

Other top-10 performances for the Hawkeyes on the day included Ryan Schreiner’s 10th-fastest men’s 800m in school history (1:48.16) and Zidane Brown’s 46.01 400m race (9th all-time). The Hawks’ star trio of freshman, Chioma Nwachukwu, Damaris Mutunga, and Alivia Williams all ran top-10 marks in the women’s 400m, finishing in 51.44 (3rd), 52.54 (6th), and 53.19 (9th) respectively. The women’s 4x400m relay team of Olicia Lucas, Williams, Nwachuku, and Mutunga ran a 3:31.55 time that pushed them all the way up to 2nd all-time in Iowa history.

It was another typical weekend for the Hawkeye track and field squad, highlighting just how impressive a “typical” weekend has become. The Hawks continue to rewrite the record books and get big performances from underclassmen and veterans alike. It’s a common recipe for the Hawkeyes and continues to be an impressively effective one.

The top performers this week were the mid-range runners, but on any given week, it’s just as likely to be the throwers, jumpers, or sprinters. The team is well-rounded, talented across years and disciplines and will certainly continue to make their presence felt in the record books in the weeks to come.

They’ll continue their outdoor season next weekend as they split the squad between California and Iowa.

Iowa baseball (20-10, 12-3 Big Ten) took two of three from Northwestern (14-15, 6- Big Ten6) over the weekend, continuing their hot start to the conference season before adding a midweek win over Milwaukee. The Hawkeyes routed the Wildcats in the first two games of the series, picking up 12-1 and 7-1 victories before falling 5-4 in the series finale.

It was another slugfest in the weekend’s first game, and the Hawks were the only ones doing the slugging. Iowa broke the game early with a five-run second inning, which was more than enough for Hawkeye ace Cade Obermueller. Obermueller was masterful on the mound throughout, pitching a complete game and striking out a career-high 12 Wildcats.

The Northwestern hitters were off-balance all game and Obermueller took full advantage. By the time Andy Nelson and Gable Mitchell each drove in a run in the sixth and the Hawks piled on five more in the seventh it was all gravy.

The Hawkeye offense has been raking for a few weeks now, and Obermueller’s performance on the mound has been impressive all season. He may not have the star power of last year’s rotation, but he’s been a solid #1 with flashes of greatness. His start on Friday earned him Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honors.

Saturday was another complete performance for the Hawkeyes, this time led by Kooper Schulte. Slotted into the lineup an hour before first pitch, Schulte went 3-3 with two doubles and an RBI, powering the Hawkeyes to their 10th straight Big Ten win.

Reese Moore gave Iowa a 1-0 lead with an RBI in the top of the first. Aaron Savary was solid on the mound, holding the Wildcats to one run in six innings, striking out seven. The Wildcats tied the game at one in the 4th, but Iowa responded with three runs in the top of the 6th behind a clutch double from Schulte.

Miles Risley added an insurance run in the seventh and Blake Guerin homered to add two more in the ninth, pushing Iowa’s lead to 7-1, the game’s final score.

The Hawks showcased a classic scrappy style throughout Saturday’s game, from Schulte’s last-second star turn to timely hitting and lockdown pitching. Daniel Rogers added three RBIs as the Hawks clinched another conference series win on the road.

Sunday’s game started worse for the Hawks, but they refused to go away quietly. Northwestern plated three in the bottom of the 3rd to take an early lead, but the Hawkeyes immediately began to fight back. Schulte drove in a run in the top of the fourth to cut the lead to 3-1 and then drove in another run and scored himself to tie the game at 3 in the top of the sixth.

The Cats pulled ahead with a solo shot in the bottom of the eighth, but Iowa again battled back, tying the game in the top of the ninth when Guerin drove in Risley with a two-out RBI double.

The Hawkeye bullpen pushed the Cats to the brink, but a two-out RBI single gave Northwestern the win.

The Sunday loss will sting, especially because the Hawkeyes notched 13 hits and stranded 12 runners, but the weekend was still clearly a success. Schulte’s impressive weekend earned him Big Ten Player of the Week honors and the Hawkeyes showcased their potential in all phases across the three games. They showcased the top-level potential of the starting staff, continued their production at the plate, and battled back to nearly steal a Sunday sweep. The team’s a fun group playing an exciting brand of baseball and right now, the results are following suit.

On Tuesday evening, the Hawkeyes added another out of conference victory with an 11-6 win over Milwaukee. The Iowa offense again jumped on the opposition early when Risley drove in a run in the bottom of the first. Risley drove in another as part of a three-run third inning, extending the Hawkeye lead to 4-0. The Hawks added one more in the fourth and then exploded for four in the 5th behind home runs from Guerin and Kellen Strohymer. Up 9-0, the Hawkeyes cruised to the 11-6 win.

Iowa’s pitching was solid as eight players combined in the bullpen game. Milwaukee caused some Hawkeye nervousness with a four-run eighth, but Iowa’s bullpen shut the door before it could blossominto a full-blown rally.

The midweek bullpen games can always be a bit of an adventure, especially in the cold Iowa spring, but the Hawkeye offense gave the pitching staff room to settle in. The Hawks will now turn their attention back to Big Ten play as they prepare to host Nebraska (14-18, 4-8 Big Ten) next weekend.

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Iowa gymnastics finished their season at the NCAA Regionals last weekend, finishing 4th in their meet with a score of 196.000. Aurelie Tran concluded her stellar freshman season with another big all-around performance, scoring a 39.275 across the four events. Adeline Kenlin finished her storied Hawkeye career with a 9.900 on the beam, an event she earned All-American honors for twice in her career, to finish as the runner up in the event.

Kenlin, one of the best to ever compete for the Hawkeyes, finishes her career as one of only four Hawks to earn multiple All-American honors and owns a share of the all-time Iowa record on beam (9.975). Her 2022 national runner-up finish on beam is the high mark for recent Iowa gymnasts. Congrats to Adeline on an incredible college career.

It was a season of transition for the Hawkeyes, who will certainly be excited about the group’s future. Tran is a star who will only get better as she continues to settle in, while established contributors like Karina Munoz and Hannah Castillo give the Hawkeyes veteran leadership for the talented freshman class to learn from. The team began to really put it all together in the year’s final meets and will no doubt have raised expectations for themselves next season.

Iowa softball (22-14, 4-6 Big Ten), dropped two of three to #20 Nebraska (28-10, 8-3 Big Ten) last weekend, falling 12-0 and 14-1 in the series’ first two games before bouncing back to take the finale 5-2.

The Husker bats came out hot in the first game of the weekend, jumping out to a 9-0 lead after three innings. Nebraska scored in every inning but the first, eventually plating 12 runs to clinching the run-rule win after five innings. The Hawks were limited to just three hits in the game.

In Saturday’s game, the Huskers again pulled ahead early, scoring in the top of the first inning. Iowa answered in the bottom of the inning as Desiree Rivera drove in Jena Young, but the Huskers shut down the Hawkeye bats from there. The Nebraska offense refused to let up, plating three runs in the second, third, and fourth innings before adding four more in the 5th to earn the 14-1 run rule win.

After a pair of demoralizing losses to start the weekend the Hawks showed more of the resolve that has been a staple of the team all season and pulled out the 5-2 win. All of the game’s scoring came in the third inning. After Nebraska scored two to take a 2-0 lead, the Hawkeye bats finally came alive, putting together a five-run rally to vault themselves into the lead.

After two strikeouts to start the inning, Young, Tory Bennett and Soo-Jin Berry all reached to load the bases. Alyssa Ramos singled to cut the Husker lead in half and then Talia Tretton blooped a single into left to score two and give Iowa 3-2 lead.

Three straight hit-by-pitches pushed Iowa’s lead to 5-2 in one of the most unique rallies you’ll ever see. The Huskers threated to stage a comeback late, but an unassisted double play from Jena Young slammed the door shut and gave Iowa the upset win.

The Hawkeyes struggled for most of the weekend, but never gave up and rallied to come away with an upset win to close the weekend. Young continues to star at the plate and in the field for the team, jumpstarting Iowa rallies and cutting off opponent rallies before they can start.

On Tuesday, Iowa dropped a 2-1 loss at home to Illinois State (13-25, 6-7). The game was scoreless through nine innings before Illinois State plated two runs in the top of the tenth to take the lead. Iowa got one run back in the bottom of the inning, but the comeback bid stalled out there, sending Iowa to a third loss in four games.

Iowa will head out east to take on Maryland (15-22, 3-10 Big Ten) this weekend.

#28 Iowa tennis (12-6, 6-3 Big Ten) split a pair of road matches last weekend, falling 4-2 to Maryland (13-9, 6-4 Big Ten) before rebounding to beat Rutgers 4-1 (7-11, 1-9 Big Ten).

Against the Terps, the Hawks fell behind early after losing the doubles point and the singles match on Court 1, but rallied to tie the match at two behind wins from Pia Kranholdt on Court 5 (6-1, 6-3) and Daianne Hayashida on Court 2 (6-4, 7-6). Unfortunately, those would be the only Hawkeye points of the match as Maryland won on Courts 6 and 4 to clinch the match.

Sunday’s match was a more successful one for the Hawks as they easily handled Rutgers to close out the weekend with a win. Iowa controlled the doubles matches to take a 1-0 lead and then added wins from Hayashida on Court 2 (6-2, 6-1), Barbora Pokorna on Court 4 (6-4, 6-1), and Nikita Vishwase on Court 6 (6-4, 7-5) to claim the win. The Hawkeyes looked much the better team throughout Sunday’s match, dominating across the singles and doubles matches, winning all three singles matches in straight sets.

The team continues to put together one of its best seasons in recent memory, rising to a near top-25 national ranking and are now just one win away from clinching a winning conference record. The group will host their final home matches of the year next weekend, taking on UCLA (10-7, 5-3 Big Ten) on Friday and USC (11-5, 5-3 Big Ten) on Sunday.