JOSH TWEEDY HELPS TEAM IOWA TO SECOND-PLACE 4X800 RELAY FINISH AT SENIOR SPOTLIGHT TRACK MEET

Waukon Indian graduated senior Josh Tweedy brought his high school track career to a close in the company of the state's and Upper Midwest's track and field elite Saturday, June 10. Tweedy was one of 43 high school track and field senior boys from across the state selected to compete for Team Iowa in the Second Annual Iowa Association of Track Coaches Senior Spotlight Meet at Loras College in Dubuque.
After being selected to the Team Iowa squad based on his performances this season and at the state track meet - where he anchored the Waukon Indian 4x800 relay team to a state championship in Class 3A, Tweedy joined forces with another trio of elite half-milers to compete in the 4x800 at this year's Spotlight Meet. Tweedy was matched up with fellow seniors Mitch Anderson of Mount Pleasant, Jonathan Carter of Burlington, and D.J. Schenck of Monticello in that 4x800 event, competing against teams from Wisconsin and Illinois, with Nebraska also competing at the meet, but not fielding a 4x800 relay squad.
Tweedy led off the Team Iowa 4x800 relay effort with a 1:58.39 half-mile clocking, getting the team off to a good start on its way to finishing second to Wisconsin by a mere .18 of a second. Tweedy handed off to Anderson, who ran a 1:54.16 on his second leg and handed off to Carter, who logged a 1:59.38 half-mile before handing off to 4x800 anchor Schenck.
The Monticello senior battled Wisconsin anchor Cole Swigelski, just getting nipped at the wire by the senior from the Badger State. Team Wisconsin clocked in at 7:49.32 and Team Iowa was right behind in 7:49.50. Team Illinois was left far behind by both top squads, finishing in a time of 8:22.20.
"It was pretty awesome to meet some of these guys who are the best track and field athletes in the state," Tweedy commented. "I've competed against some of them, so it was really cool being able to actually compete with them. Nobody really ran their personal best times down there. The heat was a factor, and most of the guys had been training on their own, so that made it tougher. But, it's still the fastest 4x800 I've ever run on. It was definitely a great experience for me."
No team scores were kept at the meet, but Team Iowa did record first-place finishes in nine of the meet's 19 events, placing second in four more. Team Iowa was able to sweep the other four relay events at the meet, with less than two-tenths of a second in that 4x800 keeping Team Iowa from a complete sweep of the relay events.
Tweedy is currently split between attending the University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa this fall. Wherever he goes, he plans on competing on the university's track team. He is the son of Al and Deb Tweedy of Waukon.