With a 2-0 start and a new No. 1 dual meet ranking under its belt, the IU men’s track and field team will compete in the Gladstein Invitational this weekend.
The meet will have two one-day sessions beginning Friday and concluding Saturday. Athletes from many different schools, including Cincinnati, Saint Louis and Indiana State, will compete.
IU started the season strong and picked up both of its early season dual meets. IU defeated Tennessee, 71.5-49.5, Jan. 7 and Purdue, 93-41, the following week.
The Hoosiers’ hot start was good enough to earn them the top spot in the initial dual team rankings posted on trackandfieldnews.com. Both Tennessee and Purdue were ranked inside the top 10 even after falling to IU. IU is now the No. 1 team in the initial indoor collegiate dual meet rankings for two consecutive seasons.
The top-25 rankings this week were flooded by Big Ten schools with IU leading the way. There were seven Big Ten teams in the initial rankings.
“The Big Ten is really good, and we’ve not been in the upper echelon in several years,” Coach Ron Helmer said. “What our intent is is to put ourselves back into that top three of the Big Ten.”
Helmer said he believes this early success could go a long way in helping the team accomplish its goals.
“What I think happens is success becomes a catalyst for a more focused commitment,” Helmer said. “When you have success, you can look back and say what we’re doing is working and that our work is being validated.”
Helmer said this weekend’s meet will be a little bit different because it revolves around individuals more than teams competing against each other. He said he is looking forward to some of his athletes competing at a higher level.
One of the athletes to look out for will be junior Daniel Kuhn. He was honored by the Big Ten Conference as the Big Ten Track athlete of the week this past week for his performance against Purdue. Kuhn is the reigning 600-meter run Big Ten champion and has already posted the best time in the NCAA this season with a mark of 1:16.11.
The team’s three shot putters will be traveling this weekend away from Gladstein Fieldhouse and will be competing at the University of Kentucky. Sophomore Willie Morrison has won all three shot put events he’s competed in this season. Helmer said he is looking forward to Morrison being challenged this weekend.
“He’s not been beaten, he’s not been challenged, and he’s young,” Helmer said. “All three of the shot putters have marks right now that would score in the Big Ten. We need to start putting them in environments where they are losing with those marks.”
Morrison said that he is looking forward to this opportunity.
“There will be a lot of good competition there including the national champion from last year,” Morrison said. “It’ll be good to hopefully perform well and get my name out there. I’m also hoping to get used to the bigger competition.”
The rest of the Hoosiers will be in action in Bloomington in the Gladstein Fieldhouse beginning Friday.
