CEDAR FALLS - While the current 'Cats were away, the future ones were having a heyday.

While the 2007 Northern Iowa track team was off competing in the NCAA Outdoor Championships, a number of Panthers-to-be were competing at the Midwest Senior Spotlight all-star meet at UNI's Messersmith Complex.

The meet featured a bevy of UNI recruits this year, and many of them found the future home track to their liking.

"I think I'm going to like it here," said Independence graduate Holly Hosch. "I ran indoor here, but this outdoor track is nice."

Hosch, the reigning Class 3A state champion in both the 400 and 800 meters, claimed double gold as part of the winning 4X400 and sprint medley relay teams in the all-star meet. After running a 57.9-second split in her 400 section of the sprint medley, she handed the baton to 15-time state champion Ashley Miller of Tipton, who finished with a blazing 800 of 2:16.9 to give the team a meet record 4:07.01.

The meet record by Hosch, Miller, Kersten Thorgaard of Ames and Lisa Mellecker of Iowa City West was no small feat in an event that features state champions from the three-state region of Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

"With that many great athletes, it was a pretty easy group to work with," said Waterloo West coach Ralph Longus, who was one of Team Iowa's coaches. "If you could have them all in one group, I defy anybody who'd tell me they couldn't be the top team in the nation."

The men's sprint medley came down to a pair of Iowa teams, and both of them were anchored by former BCLUW Comets and future UNI Panthers. The winning team was anchored by Beau Dielschneider, while the second-place squad was anchored by Luke Higgins and led off by North Fayette state champ Lucas Bostrom, who will also run for UNI.

"Since I'm from a (Class) 1A school, the only really big meets I get to run in are state and Drake and this," Dielschneider said, "and this is definitely a lot different, because you get to run against kids from out of state. The competition is great, and it's a lot of fun to get to know all these different athletes."

The all-star meet takes top athletes who are used to competing for different high schools and puts them together on one team, representing their state of origin. Waterloo East graduate Renaldo Haywood, who also plans to someday run at UNI, took the state concept a step further, shaving the initials "IA" into the back of his head for trailing runners to witness.

"I was going to do the whole 'Iowa', but it wouldn't fit," Haywood said.

Other future Panthers competing included Aplington-Parkersburg's Rachel Vanderholt, who took gold in the shuttle hurdle, Waverly-Shell Rock's Patrick Heckroth, Gladbrook-Reinbeck's Alexa Krull, Riceville's Becky Gesell, Marion's Nathan Nissen, Ventura's Jessica Hale, and Iowa City Regina's Lauren Ruppert.

Northern Iowa won't be scooping up all the meet's area talent, though. Valley of Elgin's Kara McCartney, who took gold in the 4X800 and 4X400 relays, used the meet as a warm-up for her collegiate career on the big stage at Drake.

"I'm from a small school, and these are the big guns here," McCartney said. "This is probably a lot more like what college track and field is going to feel like."

Contact Brian Pals at sportsdoor@wcfcourier.com