VERMILLION, S.D.–This Saturday will mark South Dakota freshman
Julia Noah's third trip to Iowa City in her freshman campaign after a pair of visits during the cross country season.
As a native of Urbandale, Iowa, three trips to her home state provides plenty of opportunities for parents, extended family and former classmates to watch her race.
Noah came away with a new personal best in each visit to Iowa City this fall. She capped off the fall with a 15-second personal best on the cross country course as she led the Coyotes to an 11th-place finish at the NCAA Midwest Regional. Noah was 52 seconds faster from her first visit to Iowa's Ashton Cross Country Course.
The development from the beginning to the end of the fall came from small changes in practices and the adjustment to the collegiate level.
"A big change for me was on recovery days," Noah said. "Out of high school, I was used to taking it a lot slower on those days. Coming here, we picked it up and by the end of the season we would be running at sub-7 minute miles on a recovery day. It makes a big difference.
"Then, just staying sharp during the workouts. Instead of trying to power through and always coming out feeling sore, by the end of the season we could do hard workouts without that same feeling. We would be quicker on the recovery and start the next repetition feeling pretty fresh. There's the experience of racing too. Each race was a learning experience. By the end of the season, I wasn't even that nervous getting on the starting line."
It has been two months since her last race. Noah and her Coyote teammates have spent the offseason transitioning into speed-work to help with the shorter race distances.
"I have always had that little bit of speed in me from when I used to play soccer and basketball," Noah said. "I used to run the 400 and 800 meters, so now that I have transitioned into the longer distances I still have that core speed."
Noah plans to double in the mile
(4:05 p.m.) and 3,000 meters
(6:20 p.m.) this weekend, but hopes to try a variety of distances in her first year.
"I'm excited to try everything once and see what I fit the best in," said Noah.
The Hawkeye Challenge will be held at the University of Iowa Recreation Building, which reopened in 2016 following a multi-million dollar makeover. The new raised indoor track is a one-of-a-kind competition surface previously used for the 2016 World Championships in Eugene, Ore.
South Dakota kicks off the Hawkeye Challenge with the weight throw at 3 p.m. today. The rest of the events begin at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow.
