BY JAKE KRZECZOWSKI | OCTOBER 06, 2009 7:20 AM

Going into this weekend’s All-America Tournament in Tulsa, Okla., Iowa head tennis coach Steve Houghton was cautiously optimistic about the talent playing at the national event.

“If you win one or two matches, there it’s definitely an accomplishment,” Houghton said. “Any of the matches you play down there will be really tough.”

Sophomore Will Vasos and Marc Bruche and seniors Nikita Zotov and Tommy McGeorge were the four Iowa entrants in the tournament.

Zotov and Bruche each had byes in the first round of competition on Oct. 3, then they both lost in the second round.

Vasos put together an impressive first-round victory over Fernando Ristow of Pacific (6-0, 6-3).

The sophomore also ran into trouble after the first round, losing to Carl Ho of New Mexico (7-6, 6-3).

McGeorge finally broke through the second round for Iowa, albeit, in the pre-qualifying bracket, beating Jonathan Obrist of Wichita State after receiving his own first-round bye.

The Tucson, Ariz., native met Leo Rosenberg of Hawaii-Manoa on Sunday in the third round, taking him three sets before losing (3-6, 6-1, 10-7).

The four will compete in doubles play, which will begin today.

The rest of the team traveled to Northwestern for the Wildcat Invitational, where two Hawkeyes recorded their first collegiate victories.

The stars of the meet were also the least experienced players on the team — freshman Garret Dunn and sophomore Mitch Beckert, who excelled in their new environment.

“I was just getting used to college tennis,” Dunn said. “It was a lot different from junior tennis, as I found out this weekend.”

On Oct. 3, the 6-8 Dunn, who lost his first match to a familiar face — fellow Arizonian and friend Drake Kakar of Marquette — finally captured the elusive ‘W’ with a victory over Guilherme Marsiglia of Drake.

Houghton, a former Hawkeye tennis player himself, knows the feeling of getting that first win.

“Once you kind of get your first win on the board, it really relaxes you,” he said.

Dunn teamed up with sophomore Austen Kauss to defeat the Northwestern doubles pair of Chris Jackman and Sidarth Balaji on Sunday for his first doubles victory since departing the high-school ranks.

Beckert had a successful meet, taking down Michael Calderone of Western Michigan in the Flight C competition on Oct. 2 to record the first win of his college career, which he followed up with his first doubles victory as well. He paired up with sophomore Tom Mroziewicz, who played in the A flight — the top level of singles-play competition.

Also winning for the Hawkeyes over the weekend was senior Patrick Dwyer, who won in the Flight B singles on Oct. 2.

Houghton came into the weekend expecting to learn some things about his group, and that’s exactly what he got.

“It confirms some things that guys need to work on, but it pleases me the way that some of the guys responded to competitive nature,” he said. “This is just one bit of data in seeing where guys fit into the team.”

BY JAKE KRZECZOWSKI | OCTOBER 13, 2009 7:20 AM

While most of the Big Ten’s focus may have been on Iowa City this weekend, the Iowa men’s tennis team headed the other direction, taking four players to the Purdue Invitational in Lafayette, Ind.

With the top four players worn out from the long Intercollegiate Tennis Association regional meet in Tulsa, Okla., last week, the majority of the weekend’s lineup was much younger than usual.

The first day of action found the Hawkeyes in possession of four singles wins.

Sophomore Tom Mroziewicz took down Billy Heuer of Purdue in the initial round of the Flight A competition before dropping a match to Purdue’s Branko Kuzmanovic.

He also paired with junior Austen Kauss for doubles play, in which the two advanced to the semifinals, beating doubles teams from Eastern Illinois and Butler.

The meet brought yet another first for a young Iowa team — freshman Connor Gilmore recorded his first win of his collegiate career, defeating Ben Shafer of Butler before falling to Matt Manasse of Purdue in the second round of Flight B action.

Gilmore received the nod to attend the tournament over the weekend after an injury to fellow freshman Garret Dunn opened up a spot on the roster. The absence of the 6-8 Dunn, another first-timer last week for Iowa, left big shoes to fill after he impressively won his first singles and doubles matches last week as a Hawkeye at the Northwestern Invitational in Evanston, Ill.

“I’m now starting to understand just what college tennis is,” Gilmore said. “I got my feet wet a little bit, tried to do as best I could for myself as well as the team.”

The meet at Purdue was Gilmore’s first traveling. He credited the help and advice he got from teammates for the success in his first competition since high school.

“Everyone was helpful and got along all weekend,” he said. “It helped that I had those guys around to be there for me.”

He teamed with redshirt freshman Mitch Beckert in the doubles arena. The pair dropped its first matches on Oct. 10.

The invitational was the first chance the two have had to play together in a competitive atmosphere.

“We don’t really play a whole lot together,” Beckert said. “We started off pretty slow in our first couple matches, but I felt like we finished strong.”

Beckert, who also saw his first collegiate action last weekend, could relate to the nerves Gilmore felt before the match. To keep him calm, Beckert thought back to his own début last weekend and offered encouraging advice throughout the match.

On Sunday, Kauss played in the Flight A consolation semifinals for singles, where he fell to Marquette’s J.G. Crowley. Beckert also dropped his last singles match of the tournament after losing in the Flight B portion.

The Hawkeyes have this week off before returning to Tulsa, Okla., for the Intercollegiate Tennis Association regional tournament on Oct. 22-26.

“We’re glad to have this week off,” Gilmore said. “We’ve seen what we all can do. Now, we need to focus on what we can do to get better.”

BY JAKE KRZECZOWSKI | APRIL 23, 2009 7:29 AM

The feeling of being right at home is an odd one for women’s track and field head coach Layne Anderson.

Having rarely spent more than three or four years in any one place his whole life, the six years he has spent at Iowa seems like an eternity.

“This is actually the longest I’ve ever lived in one community without moving,” he said. “I feel like I settled in sometime during the first year.”

When Anderson was young, he frequently moved. With his dad in the Army, Anderson and his family spent time everywhere from Italy and Germany to Texas and Georgia.

After a few moves, it started to become routine.

“Growing up in a military atmosphere, you learn to adapt and adjust,” Anderson said.

When it came time to go to college, the head coach just saw it as another move, choosing to attend the Citadel, located in Charleston, S.C.

Having grown up in a military lifestyle, the discipline was not hard for Anderson to get used to.
The military academy was perfect for the self-proclaimed “Army brat,” not that he’s eager to go back.

“It’s a great place to go, but I wouldn’t do it again,” he said.

While at the Citadel, Anderson was a three-time Southern Conference individual champion and academic all-conference athlete. During his stay, he broke 10 school records and was named team MVP three years in a row. Anderson also was a member of a national champion distance medley relay.

During his sophomore year at the Citadel, he realized a military profession was not what he wanted, so he shifted his focus to coaching.

“I certainly had a productive career there,” Anderson said. “I got a great education and learned some good life skills.”

When it came time to graduate, he headed to Auburn for a Ph.D. program and soon began helping the coaching staff there.

It was at Auburn he met his wife, Alexis, who was also a graduate student there.

After bouncing back and forth between Auburn and Texas Tech, Anderson was offered the coaching job for the cross-country team at Iowa and an assistant coach position on the track and field team.
He chose to join the Hawkeye staff because it felt like the best situation for him.

“I felt Iowa gave me the best chance to do some big things,” he said. “All the pieces were in place, we just needed some hard work.”

After then-head coach James Grant lost a long battle with cancer and died in 2007, Anderson was there to step in and try to fill the hole Grant left in the program with little drop-off.

“I think he really watched how Coach Grant led us,” senior Racheal Marchand said. “After he passed away, Coach Anderson did a good job of picking up where Grant left off.”

He is a coach’s coach all the way, something Anderson attributes to his upbringing. His coaching staff appreciates this approach, crediting the team’s success to his philosophy of coaching.

“He lets coaches coach, he’s very supportive,” Iowa assistant coach Clive Roberts said. “He does the little things you may not realize.”

Finally in a place he can call home with Alexis and his 1-year-old son Sawyer, Anderson is happy.
“I’ve settled in and gotten comfortable,” Anderson said. “I can see myself here for the long haul.”

BY JAKE KRZECZOWSKI | APRIL 23, 2009 7:29 AM

The Iowa women’s track and field team this week will head to Des Moines for the 100th-annual Drake Relays, the state’s most prestigious track and field meet.

The first Drake Relays were run in 1910 to a crowd of 100 people. The 100th-anniversary edition expects to attract upwards of 8,000.

“Being from Iowa, this is a big meet for our team to show the state what we’re all about,” Iowa assistant coach Clive Roberts said.

Sophomore Karessa Farley will be favored in the 100-meter hurdles, an event she has gotten better at as the season has progressed.

“Karessa in the hurdles should be competitive with just about anybody,” Iowa head coach Layne Anderson said.

The focus of the meet, though, will be on the relays, something the Hawkeyes are confident about.
“I feel pretty good about the teams we’ve put together,” Roberts said. “We’ve got a good 4×100 team that, if they make it around the track, can make it to finals.”

Last week, the Hawkeyes got a warm-up meet of sorts, taking it easy in a dual meet against Northern Iowa.

The Hawkeyes will try to prove themselves in the state’s largest meet of the season.

“We would like to go and hear Iowa and the Hawkeyes and see some people win, represent our school well,” Anderson said.

The meet has other significance as well. In conjunction with the college meet is a high-school meet, which presents the coaches another opportunity.

“With there being a high-school meet as well, it helps with recruiting if our women do well,” Anderson said. “If they see Iowa winning some races, that may make them more excited to come here.”

For one Hawkeye in particular, the meet has a special feeling. Sophomore Hannah Roeder grew up in Des Moines and attended Roosevelt High School.

“I actually lived closer to the Drake track than I did to my own high school,” she said.

After years of sneaking onto the track to run some laps as a kid, Roeder is excited to show her hometown crowd what she can do.

“It’s kind of like a home meet for me, so I just want to get out and compete with the other girls,” she said.

If there was a time for the sophomore to perform, now is it. Over the past couple weeks, she has run well, earning a regional qualifying time in the steeplechase at the Tiger Track Classic earlier this month.

But Roeder isn’t the only one who Anderson expects to do well at the meet.

“Sometimes in relays, people start to do things that you’re looking for in individual performances because there’s not as much pressure,” he said.

BY DI SPORTS STAFF | APRIL 28, 2009 7:29 AM

NEW YORK JETS

The Jets got Shonn Greene.

No, that’s not the only reason New York had the best weekend of the NFL’s 32 teams, but it sure helps.

With their first two picks of USC quarterback Mark Sanchez, who went to New York with the fifth pick of the first round, and Greene, the Jets created themselves a solid core from which the future looks very bright.

Even though there was controversy surrounding whether Sanchez was ready for the NFL when he announced his decision to opt for the pros rather than another year at USC, he proved himself throughout 2008 and performed well enough in workouts to earn himself that fifth overall selection in the draft.

No matter what Pete Carroll has to say about it, ESPN’s Mel Kiper described the quarterback as a “franchise-maker,” not exactly the tag bestowed upon Kellen Clemens or Erik Ainge the past few years.

With a solid defense in place and a sound running game, there also won’t be pressure on Sanchez, who after playing one year as the starting quarterback at such a major program will be ready for New York.

Greene will also be a contributor immediately for the Jets. With Thomas Jones on his way out and Leon Washington not exactly an every-down back, there will be a spot for the Iowa star in the running back rotation.

The consensus “GPA” of the Jets’ picks in the 2009 draft, according to ESPN.com, was a solid 3.26. While that may not get them into the Honors Program at Iowa, it definitely is a reflection of one of the best performances by a front office over the weekend.

— by Jake Krzeczowski

BY JAKE KRZECZOWSKI | APRIL 29, 2009 7:30 AM

The Drake Relays means more than just a track meet to Hawkeyes Hannah Roeder and Betsy Flood.

When Roeder, a sophomore native of Des Moines was young, the Drake Relays was an annual holiday.

“When I was in elementary school, my mom would take me out of school on the Friday of the Relays,” Roeder said. “So I’ve been going since I was little.”

Roeder, who lived closer to the Drake track than to her high school, returned last weekend to her beloved meet for the first time since graduating in 2007.

She spent her freshman season in California, choosing to attend UCLA on scholarship. But after a year away, she decided to return home, allowing her the opportunity to compete at the Drake Relays again.

“It’s, definitely different when its in your hometown,” Roeder said. “It makes it a lot more exciting.”
Flood, a rising star in a strong Iowa freshman class, is also a native of Des Moines. She attended Dowling, where she helped her team earn second at the state tournament, held on Drake’s track.

The freshman has been running in the meet since she started high school, setting records along the way.

“It’s my favorite meet,” Flood said. “It’s in Des Moines, and everyone I know is there.”

Flood’s younger sister, Katie, also competed in the meet, winning the 3,000 meters for the third time.

Her sister and the rest of the stands had plenty to cheer about as the Hawkeyes performed well at the meet.

“I was excited to see her run and cheer for her,” she said. “But it was weird not to run in the same race.”

Iowa head coach Layne Anderson understands the excitement both Roeder and Flood had with running in front of a hometown crowd.

“For both of them it was a homecoming,” Anderson said. “Sometimes that can be a good thing, and sometimes they can get caught up in the emotions.”

Roeder, who admitted feeling nervous to go out in front of her friends and family, started off her run in the steeplechase with a rough fall over the first barrier. She managed to shake off the mistake, however, and get herself back into the pack, finishing fifth — two seconds away from her personal best.

“She did a good job getting up from the fall, regrouping, and working her way back into the race,” Anderson said.

Flood was the lead off on the 4×800 relay in which Iowa took sixth and had the same position in the 4×1600 meter relay which she helped her team take third in.

The two young Hawkeyes definitely gave elementary school kids cutting class last Friday something to look up to.

“I was thrilled for both of them, and I think it is a clear indication of where both are at right now,” Anderson said.

BY JAKE KRZECZOWSKI | MAY 04, 2009 7:28 AM

The Iowa women’s rowing team improved on its past finishes at the Big Ten championships, and left the Griggs Reservoir in Columbus, Ohio, with one of the most successful seasons in the team’s history.

Iowa took fifth at the championships with 60 points, the highest total for a Hawkeye crew in five years.

The Hawkeyes qualified all six of its boats for the petite finals on Saturday morning. The first varsity 8 boat took third in the first heat, narrowly missing a chance to take the second spot away from No. 3 Michigan State, losing by less than a second. Ohio State took first in the heat, beating Wisconsin by 0.1 seconds.

Iowa head coach Mandi Kowal was optimistic about the team’s performance.

“We were disappointed we didn’t make the finals, but we were right there,” she said.

In the petite final, the first varsity 8 boat did well, taking first by almost a full second over Minnesota and a full boat length over Indiana.

Also winning its petite races were the second varsity 8 boat, which also defeated Minnesota and Indiana. The first varsity 4 boat then took second behind Michigan State.

The novice boats then took to the water. The novice 8 boat took second to Minnesota, while the first novice 4 boat also managed to pull out a second-place finish, also behind the Golden Gophers. The second novice 8 team took third in its heat, following Ohio State and Minnesota.

“Placing fifth was a good improvement,” Iowa assistant coach Melissa Schomer said. “After placing sixth and seventh the past few years, this was a big step.”

The No. 17 ranked Iowa crew came into the meet confident after spending weeks preparing for the meet following its competition with Michigan State, No. 5 Michigan and No. 18 Louisville in Belleville, Mich.

The Hawkeyes focused hard on finishing their races, using the time off to improve their technique in that area.

“We were trying to perfect our sprints at the end of the race,” sophomore rower Haylie Miller said. “We hit our ratings and the improvement showed.”

The first varsity 8 boat, which is responsible for the ranking the team earns, can feel the pressure at big meets.

Kowal stressed to the team to worry about themselves and not put added pressure on the rowers.

While some teams game plan based on what other teams do well, Kowal would rather her rowers play their own game with obvious success.

“She just told us to focus on what we can control and not what we can’t,” Miller said.

Michigan State took the Big Ten title, scoring 137 points, followed by rival Michigan. Iowa finished just ahead of No. 20 Minnesota and Indiana.

The meet from this weekend will be broadcast in an hour-long program May 17 on the Big Ten Network.

The Hawkeyes will return to action May 16-17 in Oakridge, Tenn., for the Central Regionals, a chance to qualify for the NCAA national meet.

BY JAKE KRZECZOWSKI AND ZACH SMITH | MAY 05, 2009 7:27 AM

If the Recreation Building were an older version of Wayne Maynor, than the track and field team’s new addition would be its “Bat Cave.”

“It’s just amazing,” senior All-American John Hickey said about the track and field team’s new digs in the northwest corner of the Rec Building. “We have a lounge now in the locker room, a 50-inch and a 42-inch TV with complete surround sound and iPod docks and DVD players.

“We can do pretty much anything.”

Conversely, for sophomore Hannah Roeder, who spent a year running for UCLA before coming to Iowa, she felt the original accessories at the team’s disposal were a bit out of date.

“The facilities before were definitely at a lower caliber,” she said.

http://www.dilibraryarchive.com/video/505track.mov
( Daily Iowan video feature )

Video in QuickTime format, click here for free player download

The new facility, which finished construction and became available to the men’s and women’s track and field teams in early March, is state-of-the-art all the way down to the black-and-gold carpet.

Entrance to the brand-new locker rooms, weight room, and training room is not allowed without the possession of an access key. In fact, access keys are necessary to get into any closed-door room.

Each locker room resembles more of an NFL locker room than that of a college track and field program. The lockers themselves have the athletes’ names and hometown in bold black-and-gold at the top and a large space for backpacks, duffle bags, and equipment. A large Tigerhawk rests on the floor in the middle of the room.

The weight room is a demonstration of the team’s investment in a strength and conditioning program. With several new weight benches and a complete set of barbells and dumbbells, Hickey said, the program’s tradition of stellar throwers is a nice complement to the new weight room and could help with recruiting.

“I think [the facility] is going to help a lot with recruiting,” he said. “If you look at all the other bigger [Division-I track and field] programs, they have the facilities to back their performances. Whereas we have had the performances, we just didn’t really have the facilities, and now we have both.

“It’s just like the icing on the cake.”

Women’s head coach Layne Anderson agreed that the new facilities the team can now enjoy presents yet another recruiting tool for the Hawkeyes.

“When we can bring a recruit in and show her our new locker room, our new weight room, our new track — it really helps in getting her on campus,” he said.

The track and field program is also having its outdoor track redone.

Iowa was slated to hold the outdoor Big Ten championships on its new track this season, but with the 2008 flood, the date has been pushed back to 2010, which will put the team’s new home track at the forefront of the Big Ten.

“It’s nice — we’ll be able to open the facility, get it going, and have the championship in a few years,” Anderson said.

While the new surroundings are definitely an asset to the team, he is hesitant to attribute improved performance to the new facilities.

“It kind of has a placebo effect,” he said. “But in the end, it comes down to doing your work.”

Original Here
BY JAKE KRZECZOWSKI | NOVEMBER 03, 2009 7:20 AM

The Iowa men’s tennis team finished up the fall portion of its season this past weekend at the Big Ten singles tournament at Michigan State.

The meet was a roller coaster, with wins and losses that forced the Hawkeyes to swallow hard to keep their lunch down.

On the first day of competition, Oct. 30, the inaugural doubles portion of the tournament opened with the pairing of sophomore Will Vasos and senior Tommy McGeorge, who continued their recent domination and defeated duos from Illinois, Michigan, and Michigan State before losing in the semifinals.

The two finished the tournament in third place.

“That’s really an accomplishment for those guys,” Iowa head coach Steve Houghton said. “Those guys keep getting better and better. That was definitely a highlight.”

Also competing in doubles matches were sophomore Marc Bruche and senior Reinoud Haal, who won their first match before bowing out in the ensuing round of Flight A play. In the Flight B portion, junior Nikita Zotov and senior Austen Kauss finished the tournament after two wins, as did the pair of senior Patrick Dwyer and freshman Garret Dunn.

In the first round, Kauss battled No. 2 overall seed Slavko Bijela of Purdue, defeating him in three sets before losing in the next round.

“That guy has been one of the best Big Ten players over the past two years,” Houghton said about Bijela. “Austen’s win was probably the biggest upset of the tournament. That was a big step for him to beat a guy like [Bijela].”

Haal and Bruche came into the tournament seeded 10th and 11th, respectively. Haal fell in the first round, but Bruche went on a run, blitzing through the first day of singles play on his way to the round of 16.

Also advancing past the first day were Dunn and Zotov, who both won their first round matches in the back-draw competition. Kauss and McGeorge received first-round byes.

Sunday wasn’t very friendly to the Hawkeyes, though.

Bruche fell to Mike Srocynski of Michigan (6-4, 6-3) in the round of 16 — a disappointing finish to an otherwise solid weekend for the German.

All of the back draw competitors fell in the third round.

“It was a bit of a disappointment after the day we had [on Oct. 31],” Houghton said. “I think we were done by noon on Sunday.”

The meet was the last for the Hawkeyes until Jan. 29, 2010, when the team will travel to Waco, Texas, for the Kickoff Classic. During the break, the team will train individually, with full-team practice starting back up once the team gets back to campus following winter break.

The fall portion of the team’s season is often characterized as a way to prepare for the spring. The Iowa players feel they have done a good job of that thus far.

“We definitely learned some things we have to work on,” McGeorge said. “Both we and the coaches know what those things are, and the break will give us a chance to focus on them.”

Original Here
BY DI STAFF | NOVEMBER 06, 2009 7:20 AM

Northwestern has more momentum entering this weekend’s game

Iowa would be the safe choice for possession of the momentum meter. At 9-0, the Hawkeyes are in the midst of their best start in school history.

Over the past few years, though, there has been one team that has been a thorn in Iowa’s side.

Northwestern has won in each of its last two appearances at Kinnick Stadium, in 2006 and 2008. Its domination on Iowa’s home turf has spurred many Wildcat faithful to refer to our beloved stadium as “Ryan Field West,” referring to Northwestern’s stadium.

The success on the road against Iowa, combined with a 3-3 record that puts them at the bottom of the Big Ten race, gives the Wildcats a feeling of nothing to lose.

Four of the Hawkeyes’ nine wins have been within three points, and Northwestern is no stranger to a tight game after narrow wins against Indiana and Eastern Michigan. Many say a man with nothing to lose is a dangerous man. This Northwestern team will arrive in Iowa City with everything to gain, while the pressure is on the Hawkeyes to continue their historic streak.

This year, Iowa has also had a tendency to overlook opponents in preparation for big games the ensuing week. No other time was this evidenced than the 24-21 win over Arkansas State that came one week before Michigan was in town for Homecoming.

The hunger to win and ability to pull through in close games, combined with a confidence garnered from its past two wins at Kinnick, make Northwestern a scary opponent.

The Wildcats may not win, but they definitely pose a dangerous threat to Iowa’s pristine record.

— by Jake Krzeczowski