What an unexpectedly great year it's been already for Hawkeye athletics.
While Kirk's football team couldn't win the very winnable Big 10 west, they did finish the year with a respectable 6-2 record and were ranked #16 in the final polls. Joey Woody's indoor track team won it's first Big 10 title in nearly 80 years. The women's gymnastics team went undefeated and won their first ever Big 10 title despite the state of Iowa not even having high school gymnastics as a sport.
The wrestling team were Big 10 champs, have the National Wrestler of the Year, and are poised to win nationals by a huge margin. The basketball team is ranked in the Top 5 in the nation in March for the first time in program history (it's just a shame that two other Top 5 teams happen to be in the same conference) and has the National Player of the Year which probably won't happen again in any of our lifetimes. The women's basketball team has the #1 freshmen player in the country whom the program can build itself around and will qualify for the NCAA tourney. The baseball team was in 1st place in the Big 10 last year when the season was cancelled and looks to be good again this spring.
What a shame that what could be the best year in the history of Hawkeye athletics will be, for a lack of a better word, wasted by occurring during the midst of a pandemic where fans were prohibited from attending games, cheering on the Hawks, and basking in the unprecedented success.
Pandemic and politics aside, it's a great time to be a Hawk...one that may not come around again for many decades to come.
While Kirk's football team couldn't win the very winnable Big 10 west, they did finish the year with a respectable 6-2 record and were ranked #16 in the final polls. Joey Woody's indoor track team won it's first Big 10 title in nearly 80 years. The women's gymnastics team went undefeated and won their first ever Big 10 title despite the state of Iowa not even having high school gymnastics as a sport.
The wrestling team were Big 10 champs, have the National Wrestler of the Year, and are poised to win nationals by a huge margin. The basketball team is ranked in the Top 5 in the nation in March for the first time in program history (it's just a shame that two other Top 5 teams happen to be in the same conference) and has the National Player of the Year which probably won't happen again in any of our lifetimes. The women's basketball team has the #1 freshmen player in the country whom the program can build itself around and will qualify for the NCAA tourney. The baseball team was in 1st place in the Big 10 last year when the season was cancelled and looks to be good again this spring.
What a shame that what could be the best year in the history of Hawkeye athletics will be, for a lack of a better word, wasted by occurring during the midst of a pandemic where fans were prohibited from attending games, cheering on the Hawks, and basking in the unprecedented success.
Pandemic and politics aside, it's a great time to be a Hawk...one that may not come around again for many decades to come.
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