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Piecing Together a Big Ten Champion D By Chris Brewer on't tell Joey Woody if it's not broke he shouldn't fix it. Austin and Larney finished 1-2 in the 100 meters, but even with the two fastest horses, Woody said nothing was a certainty. During the first week of April the Hawkeyes' 400-meter relay team broke a 29-year-old school record, but only "You're always nervous because the handoffs are so three weeks later Woody pulled the trigger and made a critical," said Woody. "I felt like we ran a decent race and Josh was able to stay relaxed and poised to pull it change at the front of the lineup. out at the end." The reason for the move wasn't performance based. Larney has anchored the relay all season, another Tevin-Cee Mincy, Justin Austin, Ethan Holmes, and new element Woody threw into the equation at the Josh Larney circled the oval in 39.35, faster than any start of the season. Until this year, Austin, a two-time other foursome in program history. Rather, the switch conference Athlete of the Year, has anchored the relay at the top was indicative of Iowa's depth at the speed position. Jordan Mullen, the 60-meter hurdles Big "Josh has proven to be a great leg," said Woody. "It's Champion, was waiting in the pits and Woody wanted tough because I've seen Justin run down people from to kick the tires. far away. But now we tell him you've got to get us the "Jordan first ran leadoff at Musco," said Woody. "It was lead. You have to step it up and get us out there so we can use Ethan and Josh on the end and pull away from kind of cold, but I thought he ran pretty well so we decided we would let him run leadoff at Drake. He ran people. Justin has taken to that and run some really exceptional times on the back stretch." really well at Drake, and we would've run our season best if Justin hadn't run up on Ethan. We still ran 39.6 Iowa has won the 400-meter relay conference title in lane two, which is pretty impressive, and that kind seven times in school history. Prior to this season, the of confirmed where we were." last title was at the tail end of a four-year run that saw the Hawkeyes win the crown in 1998, 1999 and 2001. The new rotation wasn't able to challenge the school If Woody is able to duplicate that run of success, he'll record, but it did result in a Big championship — need to find new ingredients. Mincy is a junior, but Iowa's first 4x100-meter title since 2001. Mullen, Austin, Holmes and Larney are soon to be "We won the Big title," said Woody. "We would like to Iowa alumni. have run faster, but it was cold and windy and times "Obviously we're going to miss those guys," said were slow. At the end of the day if you win a title, you Woody, "but Tevin is a junior and he has done some give credit to those guys that stepped it up." great things for our team. Next year he'll be working The Hawkeyes were the No. 2 seed entering the with a great incoming class. We're always trying to get championships. Illinois held the top spot with a mark better and I'm always learning and trying to do my best of 39.33 to Iowa's 39.35, but the Hawkeyes entered the as a coach. The group of newcomers is a talented group race with something no other school could match — of guys and I'm excited about the next level." the fastest two men in the conference had Iowa written across their chest. Editor's Note: The Hawkeye 4x100-meter relay team of Mullen, Austin, Holmes, and Larney advanced to the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Ore., after qualifying out of the NCAA West Preliminary Round with a time of 39.79-seconds. 15