The IU track and field team sent six athletes to Eugene, Oregon to compete in the NCAA Championships. The four-day competition will take place at Hayward Field on the campus of Oregon University.
The Hoosiers are being represented by four male and two female athletes at the national meet. Three of IU’s athletes will be competing in the field while the other three race it out on the track.
*Follow IDS Sports Editor Austin Ghirardelli (@a_ghirardelli) on Twitter for live results and updates on these athletes as the make their way through the NCAA Championships.*
Sydney Clute: Redshirt senior, pole vault
Clute will compete in the pole vault competition at 8:00 p.m. on Thursday. She is the most experienced Hoosier competing this weekend as she is no stranger to the big meets. Clute earned first team All-America honors in 2014 and 2016 when she finished in eighth and fourth place respectively.
After the Big Ten meet about a month ago, Clute said her goal was to win nationals. She spent the entire 2017 outdoor season preparing for this moment and accomplished some impressive feats on the way. So far this year, Clute overcome her own school record, established a new Big Ten Conference record, won the Outdoor Big Ten Championship, set the Big Ten Championships meet record and earned the honor of Field Athlete of the Championships.
Willie Morrison: Sophomore, shot put
The shot-put competition is set to begin a 9:40 p.m. on Wednesday. Morrison has already made quite the name for himself at IU in his first two seasons. This will be his second trip to the NCAA Championships outdoor. He earned second team All-America honors last season and finished 10th at the Indoor National Championships.
Morrison has broken many records indoors and continued to break records this year during the outdoor season. He broke the school shot-put record at the Rankin/Poehlein Invitational at Purdue earlier this season and the broke it again in the NCAA East Preliminary Round two weeks ago.
Katherine Receveur: Redshirt sophomore, 5,000m
Receveur will run in the 5k finals on Saturday night with the race projecting to start at 8:25 p.m. She had an outstanding year prior to outdoor season, earning All-America accolades in cross country (11th place finish) and indoor track (sixth place finish).
Receveur holds the fourth fastest time this season of people competing in her event. She ran a 15:46.33 at the Stanford Invitational on the last day of March. She also ranks as the sixth fastest seed time following her 16:11.57 time she posted at the NCAA East Preliminary Round.
Jason Crist: Redshirt senior, 5,000m
Crist will line up to race at 10:25 p.m. on Friday night for the men’s 5k final. He advanced to Eugene due to his stellar performance in the preliminary round.
Crist has only ran the 5k three times so far this outdoor season. He opened his season at the Stanford Invitational where he finished ninth with a time of 14:01.47. He finished seventh at the conference meet and then 11th in the NCAA East Preliminary Round.
Eric Bethea: Sophomore, triple jump
Bethea will jump on Friday evening with his event scheduled to start at 8:40 p.m. After missing the outdoor conference meet due to injury, he earned his spot in the NCAA Championships with an 11th place finish at the preliminary meet in Lexington.
The sophomore jumper had an excellent end to indoor season when he won the Big Ten Championship in the event. Bethea went on to finish 14th at the Indoor National Championships.
William Session: Freshman, 110m hurdles
The true freshman will be competing in his first ever NCAA Championships meet. The 110m hurdle semis will start at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday and the finals will begin at 9:15 p.m. on Friday.
Session earned one of the three automatic qualifier spots in his heat of the 110m hurdle quarterfinals at the NCAA East Preliminary Round. He ran his way into the IU history books as his time of 13.92 ranks eighth in school history.
