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131 A home track advantage is not a luxury that the University of Iowa track and field team has enjoyed in the past. anks to the team's new indoor track, the month of January has made up for it. e Hawkeyes wrapped up their fourth straight home meet Jan. 28 with the Black and Gold Premier, completing a month where the team did not leave Iowa City to compete. "is month accomplished a lot," Iowa director of track and field Joey Woody said. "We always want more, but it is a sign of big things to come." During the opening stretch, the Hawkeyes set three facility records and 101 personal bests. "e thing about it is that we are setting a lot of personal records, but we are training at a high level," Woody said. "We haven't backed off our training this whole month. Now we will be able to pull things back and fine tune our athletes to get them ready for the Big Ten meet." Aer spending this much time at home, another element to fine tune will be traveling. For some athletes, this will be their first time traveling and for others, they have simply forgotten what the road is like. "I actually don't remember (what it is like)," junior William Dougherty said. "I was talking with the Wisconsin guys and I said that I don't remember what it is like to run on a flat track anymore. It's going to be different." January has not only allowed Iowa's current athletes to compete on one of the world's best tracks, but graduated athletes as well, who have stuck around the area to either stay in shape or train for national competitions. Former Hawkeye Lake Kwaza, who owns the school record in the women's 60-meter dash, would not have had the opportunity to compete if not for the abundance of home meets. "is is a fast track, so why not stay at home?" Kwaza said. Kwaza competed in the 60-meters at the Hawkeye Invitational and Larry Wieczorek Invitational, taking the title in both. Looking ahead, the Hawkeyes have to find success on the road and that comes with a different mentality. Iowa has had its share of home advantages and now it is time to see the other side of competing. "It's always fun when you get to travel," Dougherty said. "It gives everything a little more serious sense because you are not sleeping in your own bed and everything is planned out for you, but it will be interesting to see the road aer this month." e Hawkeyes travel to South Bend, Indiana, for the Meyo Classic on Feb. 4-5, followed by the Iowa State Classic on Feb. 10 and Tyson Invitational on Feb. 11. Iowa returns home for the Iowa Open on Feb. 17 and wraps up the month with the Alex Wilson Invitational (Feb. 18) and Big Ten Championships (Feb. 24). FEBRUARY CALENDAR Feb. 4-5 at Meyo Classic (South Bend, Ind.) Feb. 10 at Iowa State Classic (Ames, Iowa) Feb. 11 at Tyson Invitational (Fayetteville, Ark.) Feb. 18 Iowa Open (Iowa City, Iowa) Feb. 18 at Alex Wilson Invitational (South Bend, Ind.) Feb. 24-25 at Big Ten Championships (Geneva, Ohio)