Randy Hasenbank Associate Head Coach (Distance) | University of Iowa Athletics
Randy Hasenbank Associate Head Coach (Distance) | University of Iowa Athletics
The University of Iowa cross country teams completed their regular season at the Pre-Nationals Invitational held at the Gans Creek Cross Country Course in Columbia, Missouri, on Friday. The event saw several athletes achieve personal bests and strong performances as the teams prepare for the upcoming postseason.
Sophomore Elena Torres led the Iowa women in the 6,000-meter race, setting a new personal record with a time of 20:49.7. This marked a ten-second improvement from her previous best, which she set at last season’s Big Ten Championships. Torres has finished as the top Hawkeye in every regular season meet this year.
Other notable performances for the women’s team included sophomore Hillary Trainor, who recorded a personal-best time of 21:05.5, and Jalyssa Blazek, who finished with a lifetime best of 21:40.0. Freshman Ella Magallan improved her personal best by over one minute and forty-five seconds in the season finale. Audra Soderlind also achieved a career best with a time of 22:03.7, while sophomore Julia Gehl set her own personal best at 23:09.3. The women’s team placed 25th overall, scoring 690 points.
On the men’s side, sophomore Kyle Montgomery was the top finisher for Iowa in the 8,000-meter race for the first time this season, completing the course in 25:08.8. Montgomery has consistently placed in the top five for the men’s team throughout all four regular season meets.
Seniors Carson Houg (25:17.9) and Hayden Kuhn (25:31.6) were next to finish for the Hawkeyes. Freshman Elias Arbuckle continued his streak of top-five finishes for the team with a time of 25:33.3. The men’s team finished 30th with 778 points.
Six underclassmen scored for Iowa across both races, matching a season high in underclassmen point production that dates back to the Hawkeye Invite on September 5.
Associate Head Coach Randy Hasenbank commented on the teams’ efforts: “The women ran a strong team race today. That was a very deep field. Most of the squad ran 15 to 30 seconds faster than they did a year ago on this course. The team continues to improve. We competed well against some of the teams that we will race heading into the championship portion of the season. We still have more in the tank. It was a rough day on the men’s side. We are battling some injuries. I am hopeful that we can get some of them back in the lineup.”
The Hawkeyes will next compete in postseason action at the Big Ten Championships in East Lansing, Michigan, scheduled for October 31.
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