Skip To Main Content

Upcoming Events and Recent Results

Western Illinois University Athletics

Goldring

Track and Field Begins Indoor Season In Iowa City

| By: WIU Athletic Communications

Western Illinois takes part in the Hawkeye Invitational hosted by the University of Iowa.

What | Hawkeye Invitational
 
When | Jan. 14-15
 
Where | Iowa City, Iowa
 
Western Illinois Track and Field begins its indoor season on Friday Jan. 14, as they compete in the Hawkeye Invitational, hosted by the University of Iowa. Weight throw is tentatively scheduled to take place at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex at 5 p.m. (CT) on Friday. Remaining events tentatively scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. (CT) on Saturday at the Iowa Hawkeye Indoor Track Facility. Full list of event times can be found here.
 
Coach Brokaw's Excitement | "Our team is very excited to open the season this weekend at the University of Iowa. It should be a great competition with many quality programs from around the region in attendance," said head coach Trey Brokaw. "The first competition of the indoor season is always interesting because many of the athletes have been home for a significant portion of Christmas break. I'm not sure what to expect but I know there will be many student-athletes setting personal bests and maybe even breaking school records. They worked very during the previous months in training and that hard work will pay off this weekend."
 
"Due to some facility constraints, Friday night will be the weight throw and then the rest of the meet will be held on Saturday. We've got some talented girls in the weight throw so I'm hopeful they can get us started off in the right direction," said head coach Trey Brokaw. "Each opportunity to compete is a trial run for the championships at the end of the season. I'm hopeful the team can maximize their opportunities to compete because the indoor season, compared to outdoors, is quite a bit shorter. Only six weeks from now we will be traveling to the Summit League Conference Championships in North Dakota and two months from now are the NCAA Championships in Alabama."
 
New Season, New Coach | Coach Brokaw begins his first season coaching his hometown team and looks to begin a new chapter in WIU's history. Joining coach Brokaw in his first season as assistants are LeRon Williams who will coach sprints and jumps, coach Brokaw's wife Stephanie Brokaw coaching distance and middle distance, Tom Unruh coaching pole vaults and multis, and Erick Loomis coaching throws.
 
Preseason Athletes To Watch | Western Illinois returns a large number of great performers from last year's indoor season and had four named Summit League Preseason 'Athletes to Watch.' The Summit League gave the honors to Ackeen Colley, Richard Brown, Paulina Wuestefeld, and Maleigha Huston.
 
Ackeen Colley | Senior | Distance
Colley will look to repeat the success he saw in the previous season as one of the top runners in the Summit League. He was named the 2021 Summit League Most Outstanding Championship Performer after he dominated at the Summit League Indoor Championships. Colley took first place in the 800-meter and helped Western Illinois take first in the distance medley relay (10:02.56). His 1:48.61 800-meter time broke WIU's school record. He was also one of the four athletes who broke WIU's 4x4 record, which sat untouched for 44 years (3:13.9). The time from the distance medley relay stands as the second fastest time in program history. It would be the first time in 11 years the DMR list had been touched.
 
Colley would go on to be named a first team All-American in the 800-meter after placing sixth at the NCAA Track & Field Championships qualifier.
 
Richard Brown | Sophomore | Distance
Brown was also outstanding in the 800-meter race last season, finishing third at the Summit League Indoor Championships. He was also a member of the first place distance medley relay race, and the record-breaking 4x4 squad. Brown was named the 2021 Summit League Newcomer of the Championship and was named 2021 Summit League Indoor All-League.
 
Paulina Wuestefeld | Senior | Distance
Wuestefeld returns as one of WIU's most experienced runners and will look to build off her strong performance at last year's indoor championship. She finished with the best mile time for the Leathernecks, placing 11th overall (5:10.93). She'll look to break the top-10 this season and be the leader on the women's side once again.
 
Maleigha Huston | Freshman | Distance
Huston will be competing in her first track and field season collegiately, but already brings a reputation as a champion into her freshman season. Huston was one of the top runners in the state of Illinois at West Prairie high school. She was a 2021 IHSA 1A state champion in the 800-meter and received all-state honors in the 400, 800, and 1600-meter.
 
First Opponents | Western Illinois will be one of 11 teams competing at this year's Hawkeye Invitaitonal. WIU will compete alongside Arkansas State, Bradley, Hawkeye CC, Indian Hills CC, Iowa Central CC, Loyola-Chicago, Northern Iowa, UW-Milwaukee, South Dakota, and the University of Iowa.
 
Live Results | Fans can stay up to date on all results from the Hawkeye Invitational by using the link here.
Print Friendly Version

Related Videos

Now Playing:

Related Stories