IOWA CITY, Iowa – Senior Payton Sandfort and graduate student Drew Thelwell earned the top team honors for the University of Iowa men’s basketball team for the 2024-25 season. Sandfort was awarded the Chris Street Award, while Thelwell was the recipient of the Kenny Arnold Spirit Award.

The Chris Street Award is presented annually to a Hawkeye player, or players, who best exemplify the spirit, enthusiasm, and intensity of Chris Street. Street was an Iowa basketball player who died in an auto accident in 1993, midway through his junior year.

The Kenny Arnold Spirit Award is bestowed upon the player who best embodies Arnold’s spirit of leadership, character, courage, determination, and poise.  Three years after graduating, Arnold was diagnosed with a brain tumor and battled the disease for more than 30 years before passing away in April 2019.

Sandfort earned honorable mention All-Big Ten recognition after averaging 16.7 points, six rebounds and 2.9 assists as a senior. He scored in double figures in 27 games, had a team-high 14 20-point contests and tied for the team lead with three double-doubles.

The Waukee, Iowa, native, who was on the midseason top 10 list for the Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year, led the Big Ten in 3-point field goal percentage, making 34 percent of his attempts.  His 84 3-point field goals were third-most in the conference.

Sandfort closed out his career by matching a career-high with 30 points in the Big Ten Tournament against Illinois. He tied a Big Ten Tournament record with eight 3-pointers, which are tied for the third most in a game in program history.

He finished his Hawkeye career first in free throw percentage (.896), second in 3-point field goals (271) and 11th in scoring (1,619).

In his lone season in Iowa City, Thelwell was a fan favorite and emotional spark plug. The Orlando, Florida, native averaged 9.5 points, three assists, 2.2 rebounds and 1.5 steals.  He reached double digits in 15 games with two 20-point and six 15+ point contests.

Thelwell, a transfer from Morehead State, went over the 1,000-career point mark on Nov. 26 against USC Upstate.  He finished with 1,086 points, 425 assists, 354 rebounds and 138 steals in 143 career games.

Iowa quarterback Mark Gronowski says his recovery from off-season shoulder surgery is ahead of schedule. Gronowski transferred to Iowa after a standout career at South Dakota State and will not be fully cleared until this summer.

Gronowski says his relationship with offensive coordinator Tim Lester was one of the things that made Iowa and attractive spot.

Gronowski is looking forward to running Lester’s offense.

The Hawkeyes close spring drills April 26th with an open practice.

The Iowa Hawkeye baseball team has put itself in the hunt as the second half of the Big Ten race begins. The Hawkeyes are 12-3 and currently second in the league race behind UCLA heading into Friday night’s start of a three game series at home against Nebraska. Coach Rick Heller’s team is 21-10 overall.

With basketball season over and the weather getting warmer the spotlight is getting a little brighter on the Hawkeyes.

The Huskers are just 4-8 in the Big Ten but they have been playing better as of late. They claimed two of three last weekend against Rutgers are prior to that won two of three against highly ranked Oregon State.

Nebraska scored a total of 23 runs in last week’s series against Rutgers.

The series will continue with single games on Saturday and Sunday.

UNI football coach Todd Stepsis says a focus during spring drills is building depth along the line of scrimmage. That was an issue last season when the Panthers struggled to a 3-9 finish.

Both starting offensive tackles are gone from last season but Stepsis feels good about the potential of the offensive line.

Stepsis says at the point he is not concerned about a depth chart.

The Panther’s spring game is May third at Cedar Falls High School.

Sidney Invite

1. Mount Ayr 416

2. Sidney 423

3. Treynor 426

5. CAM 499

6. Lenox 539

7. Glenwood 544

NTS. Griswold 

Medalists:

1. Jaylee Shaffer (83) – Mount Ayr

2. Sophi Pedersen (88) – Treynor

3. Joanna Reynolds (92) – Griswold

7. Kaitlyn Platt (106) – CAM

9. Molly Coffman (108) – Treynor

Treynor: Shay Smith – 113, Kailey Cooper – 117, Collin Reineke – 126, Anna Sausedo – 135

CAM: Grace Venteicher-  131, Kesley Platt – 131, Brooklynne Zimmerline – 131, Nadia South – 137, Hallie Keeler – 142 

Griswold: Abigail Henderson – 120, Kathryn Tischer – 123

Abraham Lincoln Invitational

1. Lewis Central 182

2. Shenandoah 189

3. Sioux City East 189

5. Abraham Lincoln 223

6. St. Albert 225

Medalists:

1. Cate Perfect (40) – Lewis Central

2. Chloe Perfect (41) – Lewis Central

3. Sarah Pickens (42) – Shenandoah

5. Kate Reed (48) – Lewis Central

5. Mary Stephens (48) – Underwood

5. Rachel Jones (48) – Shenandoah

10. Ashlee Dinges (49) – Shenandoah

Lewis Central: Brooke Larsen – 53, Grace Harter – 64, Marley Stacey – 67 

Shenandoah: Kylie Foutch – 50, Carley Jones – 62, Alaina Anderson – 66

Underwood: Kailyn Brecher – 51 

The Atlantic Girls Golf team begins their 2025 season under new leadership Thursday. Trojan graduate, Brooke Newell takes over the program and competes as a head coach for the first time at Nishna Hills in a dual against Creston.

Atlantic has six players on the roster this season with five of them being upperclassmen. The Trojans lose their top two golfers from a season ago but Junior, Makenna Schroeder is the number one returner on the roster with a 47 9-hole low and a 96 18-hole low. Four of the six players return and are getting back into the swing of playing every day.

The Trojans in 11 competitions this spring with three being on their home course. Outside of the Creston dual Thursday, Atlantic hosts the annual Betty Heflin Tournament on May 6th followed by a dual with Harlan on May 19th. Competition will be present across the conference, but Newell believes her team is right in the mix.

The roster has goals set for themselves and the team.

A new era begins for the Trojans Thursday with promise ahead of them.

IOWA CITY, Iowa – University of Iowa gymnastics assistant coaches Craig Ballard, Brenna Brooks and Kyle Grable have been named Women’s Collegiate Gymnastics Association (WCGA) Assistant Coaches of the Year for the North Central region, it was announced by the organization on Wednesday.

In their first season at Iowa, Ballard, Brooks and Grable helped guide the Hawkeyes to a fifth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships and the regular season after being picked to finish 10th. The GymHawks broke 197.00 for the first time since 2021 against Iowa State posting a 197.025, the fourth highest score in program history. Iowa finished the season ranked 26th with a national qualifying score (NQS) of 196.430.

Ballard oversaw vault and floor, where the Hawkeyes were ranked 23rd nationally on both events. Iowa captured five event titles on each event this season. Junior Karina Muñoz ranked 10th in the Big Ten and 35th nationally on vault to end the year. Junior Emily Erb finished the season ranked seventh in the conference and 34th nationally on floor. Iowa posted a season-high 49.375 on floor against Illinois, where four gymnasts scored a 9.900 or higher in the rotation and Erb tied the program record scoring a 9.975.

Brooks oversaw beam in her first season at Iowa. Against Iowa State, the Hawkeyes scored a 49.425, tying the program’s second highest score in program history on the event. The Hawkeyes went into NCAAs ranked 19th nationally on beam. Iowa captured 10 event titles on beam and both freshman Aurélie Tran and fifth-year Adeline Kenlin ranked 17th in the Big Ten on the event.

Grable oversaw bars where the Hawkeyes took home seven event titles. Iowa finished the regular season ranked 31st nationally on the event and Tran ranked 25th nationally and fifth in the Big Ten. Iowa posted a season-high 49.275 against Iowa State, where all six athletes scored 9.800 or higher with Tran posting a career-high 9.950, tying for second in program history.

Freshman Aurélie Tran earned first team all-Big Ten and all-freshman honors this season. Tran and senior Haley Tyson were named to the Big Ten all-championship team on bars and floor, respectively.

Six different athletes wrote their names into the record book this season; Muñoz (VT, T-9, 9.925), Tran (UB, T-2, 9.950), Sydney Turner (UB, T-8, 9.925), Kenlin (BB, T-9, 9.925), Erb (FX, T-1, 9.975), and Hanna Castillo (FX, T-6, 9.950).

Ballard, Brooks and Grable are the first assistant coaches at Iowa since 2016 to win this honor.

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Luke Barnwell has been named an assistant coach with the University of Iowa men’s basketball program, it was announced Wednesday by head coach Ben McCollum.

Barnwell comes to Iowa City with 14 years of coaching experience, most recently spending two seasons in the Big 12 Conference at Texas Tech.  He also spent 10 seasons as head coach at Sunrise Christian Academy where he was named the 2021 and 2022 Naismith High School Boys Coach of the Year and led the team to the 2022 National Interscholastic Basketball Conference Championships.

“I have known Luke for a number of years,” said McCollum.  “He is an elite recruiter, excellent coach and has had a ton of success at the prep level. He also has a lot of experience at the Power 5 level with one of the top coaches in the country in Grant McCasland. We’re excited to have Luke join our program.”

During his two seasons in Lubbock, Barnwell helped lead the Red Raiders to a 51-20 record and two trips to the NCAA Tournament.  Texas Tech advanced to the Elite Eight in his second season, finishing the year with a 28-9 overall record along with a 15-5 mark in Big 12 play.

The Red Raiders were in the Associated Press Top 10 for the final five weeks of the season and finished the year with the third-most wins in program history.

“I am incredibly blessed to be a part of the University of Iowa and coach McCollum’s staff,” said Barnwell. “My family and I look forward to being back in the Midwest to work for this university, community and program.”

Along with the team success in year two, Barnwell helped develop JT Toppin, Darrion Williams and Chance McMillian — all three of which earned multiple postseason honors.  Toppin was an All-American while also being named the Big 12 Player of the Year, Big 12 Newcomer of the Year and to the All-Big 12 first team.

Barnwell helped to Texas Tech to the 2024 NCAA Tournament and a 23-win season in his first year. The team tied for third in the Big 12 standings and advanced to the semifinals of the 2024 Big 12 Championship.

Barnwell spent his final eight seasons leading the Sunrise Christian Elite team where he compiled a 178-28 record competing against the elite basketball programs across the country.  He led SCA to five consecutive GEICO Nationals and coached more than 75 NCAA Division I players and worked with six NBA players.

His team was ranked No. 1 throughout the 2022 season and won the inaugural NIBC. The program once again advanced to the final four of the GEICO High School National Tournament in 2023 with an upset of the top seed. He coached NBA players Kennedy Chandler, Kendall Brown, Gradey Dick and Ochai Agbaji and helped train Buddy Hield and Ron Baker.

Barnwell began his time at SCA as the head coach of the post-grad basketball team where he led the program to a 41-13 record from 2012-15. He earned Midwest Prep Coach of the Year in 2015 and helped 13 players advance to NCAA Division I programs.

Barnwell gained coaching experience within the Mokan Nike Elite program where he was the head coach of Mokan 17U Select in 2014 and Mokan 15U Elite in 2015. He also assisted Mokan programs from 2016-18.

A native of Emporia, Kansas, Barnwell played college basketball at Newman University and Emporia State before beginning his coaching career as a student assistant.

Barnwell earned his bachelor’s degree in sports communications with an emphasis in coaching from Newman University in 2013.   He and his wife, Emily, have an 11-month-old daughter, Keylynn.

Iowa defensive tackle Jonah Pace says Iowa was the right fit for him. Pace transferred to Iowa after four years at Central Michigan. He hopes to be a factor for a defensive line that lost some key players from last year’s 8-5 team.

Pace took several visits before deciding on Iowa.

Pace was second on the tram in tackles at Central Michigan and also registered four sacks last season. The Hawkeyes wrap up spring drills on April 26th with an open practice.