By Seth Tow
IU’s rankings at the Meyo Invitational this weekend don’t say as much about its performance as the times do. Twenty Hoosiers set lifetime bests in South Bend, Indiana, on Friday and Saturday.
“The competition was good, the top end especially,” IU Coach Ron Helmer said. “At the top end, those fast heats were really, really good. We had people run really well and get beat by a number of people.”
The only Hoosiers to take first place in their events were sophomore Daniel Kuhn and junior Nakel McClinton, both making a habit of highlight performances. Kuhn won the men’s 800 meter.
Although it wasn’t quite as fast as his school record time from the Rod McCravy Memorial, he came from behind in the last stretch of the race, which is something Kuhn hasn’t done before, Helmer said.
McClinton broke her own school record in the women’s weight throw for the second consecutive week. This is the third time this year she’s set the record.
Other notable performances came in the men’s and women’s mile. In the men’s race, senior Rorey Hunter and sophomore Kyle DuVall finished within a second of each other, taking third and fourth in the race.
Hunter was 0.4 seconds away from first. Both set new lifetime bests, Hunter with a 4:00.82 and DuVall with a 4:01.66 time.
Hunter’s time is the 10th best in school history. In the women’s race, sophomore Brenna Calder set a new personal record and the seventh-best time in school history, with 4:42.60 in a competitive race.
“Coming into the race, I was pretty nervous because there were, I think, at least five girls who were post-collegiate runners or professional runners, so it was a pretty stacked heat,” Calder said. “There were people who were going for the Olympic standard, which isn’t your usual college race.”
Elsewhere for IU, junior Taylor Wiley’s 2:09.53 in the women’s 800 meter was 10th best in school history and a season best. Freshman Taylor Williams finished the women’s 600 meter in 1:32.50, a season best. Sophomore Zach Reitzug and freshman Riley Egbula both set season bests in the men’s and women’s 400 meter.
Other Hoosiers who set season bests include freshman distance runner Haley Harris, sophomore thrower Andrew Miller, freshman thrower David Schall, junior distance runner Mark Chandler, freshman middle distance runner Adam Wallace and junior distance runner Jeremy Coughler.
Sophomore Jordan Huntoon had a breakthrough in the men’s 800 meter. Huntoon set a new personal record by two seconds by finishing the race in 1:50.65. His performance drew the praise of his team and coach. Hunter was especially happy for Huntoon and cited how long he had worked towards a performance like this.
Overall, Helmer said he was pleased with the progress his team showed this weekend. He said it is good the team is gaining momentum, and more and more athletes each week are turning in strong results.
“In some cases, they’re probably not good enough yet to be Big Ten scorers,” Helmer said. “But at least, in a big meet when they were supposed to run fast, they went out and did just that and that’s a really good sign.”
