Iowa men's track goes back-to-back at Big Ten indoor championships

A victory in Saturday’s 4x400-meter relay was a perfect finishing statement for the Iowa men’s track and field team in Geneva, Ohio.

The quartet of Everett Steward, Julien Gillum, Armando Bryson and Jenoah McKiver posted a winning time of 3 minutes, 5.47 seconds to punctuate a second consecutive title at the Big Ten Conference indoor championships.

Iowa finished with 117 team points, outpacing Ohio State’s second-place 102.

A year ago, Joey Woody’s Hawkeyes notched the program’s first outright indoor conference title since 1929. The Hawkeyes have won each of the last two Big Ten outdoor championships that have been staged, as well, in 2019 and 2021. They’ll look for three in a row later this spring.

“We have an expectation to be Big Ten champs every time we step on the track and start our season,” said Woody, Iowa’s program director. “I’m really proud of the guys because they had to be resilient this weekend. They had to fight through a lot of adversity, and this was a total team effort.” 

The 600-meter run epitomized the team effort. All five Hawkeyes who entered qualified for the finals. And McKiver, who is having a terrific freshman season, won the event in a time of 1:15.67.

Iowa also collected two silver medals with Austin West in the heptathlon and Grant Conway in the 60-meter hurdles.

Minnesota won the women’s championships with 102 points; Iowa was sixth with 59.

Up next for the Hawkeyes: The March 11-12 NCAA indoor championships in Birmingham, Alabama.