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157 S teady improvement in high school allowed Carter Lilly to participate in track at the University of Iowa. Consistency in college has turned him into one of the top middle distance runners in the country. In just his second outdoor appearance of the sea- son April 16, Lilly, a sophomore, moved to second on the Hawkeyes' all-time list in the 800-meter run. He finished runner-up to Mississippi sopho- more Craig Engels at the Texas Invitational in Aus- tin, Texas, with a time of 1-minute, 47.32-seconds. at ranks fih in the Big Ten Conference, seventh in the West Region, and 13th nationally. It is the latest highlight for someone who had a successful beginning to the sport, yet pedestrian results compared to Division I scholarship run- ners. Lilly won a Drake Relays 800-meter title as a se- nior at Sioux City East (Iowa) High School, but a gold medal at the state meet eluded him. Despite being a two-time runner-up in Class 4A (the larg- est class in Iowa), Lilly's progress intrigued Joey Woody, UI director of track and field. As a sophomore in high school, Lilly was 19th at state in the 800 in 2:00.14. As a junior he was sec- ond in 1:54.61. As a senior he was runner-up again in 1:51.52. "I always wanted to be a Division I athlete but I didn't think it would be in track," Lilly said. Lilly's father, Kevin, helped him contact Woody. Lilly never wavered on attending the University of Iowa, even if athletics wasn't in the equation. He is majoring in human physiology and leaning toward attending dental school. "I was planning on coming here either way," said Lilly, a walk-on. "I was going to go here for aca- demics and if I liked track, I would keep doing it and if I didn't, I could always quit. But I loved it." In his first outdoor meet of the season at the Baldy Castillo Invitational on March 19 in Tempe, Ari- zona, Lilly ran the 800 in 1:49. It ranked sixth all- time in Hawkeye history at the time; the top spot on Iowa's 800 list is occupied by Erik Sowinksi, who ran 1:45.90 in 2012. "I told Erik Sowinski that Carter Lilly was going to probably break his school records before he was done," UI assistant coach Jason Wakenight said. "at's how good (Lilly) is. I can see Carter Lilly having every mid-distance record at the University of Iowa." In his first two indoor seasons, Lilly posted back- to-back fih-place finishes in the 600-meter run at the Big Ten Championships (1:18.37 in 2015, 1:17.43 in 2016). His preliminary time of 1:17.34 this season is second all-time in Iowa history be- hind — you guessed it — Sowinski (1:16.91). When Lilly won the 800 at Baldy Castillo, he also assured himself a spot in the NCAA West Prelimi- nary Round from May 26-28 in Lawrence, Kansas. In 2015, a time of 1:48.88 qualified for the NCAA Championships out of the West Preliminary. "My biggest goal is to run 1:47.5 and hopefully make the (2016) Olympic Trials," said Lilly, who bettered that mark by 0.18 on April 16. "at would be a cool experience. I want to score and medal in the Big Ten and make it to Eugene (Eu- gene, Oregon is site of the NCAA Champion- ships)." e biggest asset Wakenight sees in Lilly is consis- tency. While many runners post a fast time here or there, Lilly remains steady and reliable. "Every time he shows up on the track you know something good is going to happen," Wakenight said. "I have never been nervous about whether or not he was ready to perform or if he was going to compete to the best of his ability." In Sowinski-like style, Lilly is comfortable charg- ing early to the front of the pack. If opponents want to defeat Lilly, they better be ready to go from the gun. "My ideal race would be to take it out hard, go to the front, and don't look back," Lilly said. "is year I have run right to front right away and I don't worry about having to deal with anyone else in the