Northern Iowa’s thrower Katie Fare with standout win

DES MOINES — Northern Iowa’s standout thrower, Katie Fare, didn’t wave her white Drake Relays flag much.

Sure, it came with a dominating win in Friday’s women’s shot put championship flight, but Fare’s never satisfied.

That’s because complacency breeds stagnation.

“It’s not like an, ‘Aw, man, I didn’t throw as far as I wanted,” said Fare, the 2025 Missouri Valley Conference Indoor champion in the shot, who won with a top throw of 56 feet and six and a half inches. “It’s definitely more of an, ‘OK, cool, that’s a start,’ and next week we come back even harder. Just another notch in the belt, kind of.”

Fare earned the women’s most outstanding field athlete award at the MVC indoor championships thanks to her win in the shot and a seventh-place finish in the weight throw. She wasn’t satisfied then and she certainly isn’t now — not after redshirting all of last season and seemingly hitting her stride when it matters most late this spring.

“A conference championship is what I always wanted,” Fare, a senior from Loves Park, Ill., said. “Leading off with indoor and winning that, and going into outdoor, going two times, would be pretty cool.”

Even cooler: Seeing her Panther teammates — both in men’s and women’s track and field — success alongside her.

“What excites me the most?” She said. “Honestly, just getting the chance to compete, doing a sport I’ve been doing for the past 11 years. Getting better at it and being with some of my best friends that I’ve met through this process, and honestly representing UNI, because without them, I wouldn’t be here."

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