Team to count on veterans at meet

Throughout the season, the men's indoor track team has shown signs of promise and has left talented opponents in its dust. This weekend, the men's Indoor Big Ten Championships present something different for the Hoosiers. \nFortunately, the other Big Ten teams must also wipe their slates clean Saturday and Sunday at Penn State.\nCoach Marshall Goss views the championship as an unusual meet without a clear-cut favorite. Wisconsin will score a lot of points and Penn State, Illinois and Purdue all have the potential to score high as well, he said.\nThe Hoosiers are at a slight disadvantage because of inexperience and injuries sustained throughout the season.\n"It will be a battle for us," Goss said. "The attitude of our kids is that they can (set personal bests) when they have to. We lost a lot of points from last (year's Big Ten meet) that aren't back this year, so we'll have to step up and earn points from different places."\nBut all is not lost for the Hoosiers, who have veterans who have been in this position before.\n"It's just important to me personally to score some points in the Big Ten Championship," junior Ian Curry said. "When you get to the Big Ten Championships, anything can happen. You might see someone who has jumped really high do absolutely nothing. It's anyone's meet, so it might as well be ours' to score high."\nJunior Dino Efthimiou said he agrees.\n"We're juniors, and coach expects us with the experience to come through for him," Efthimiou said. "This is our third year, so we shouldn't be as nervous as the freshmen. It's a stressful meet; you just have to fight through the nerves. The freshmen are going to be scared and it's up to us to do well."\nUnlike other teams, like reigning conference champion Wisconsin, IU cannot rely on veterans to lead the team because the majority of the team is freshmen and sophomores. Freshman Contrell Ash and sophomore Matt Harris have risen to the challenge this year and shown positive attitudes.\nDuring seasonal competition, the Hoosiers were without some key components like senior distance runners Aaron Gillen and Tom Brooks and sophomore long and triple jumper Hasaan Reddick. The good news is that all are expected to be competing this weekend. \nGillen strained his Achilles tendon in December, and Brooks suffered a stress fracture at the end of the cross country season. Gillen and Brooks have been training for three weeks, and will make their first appearances in competition this weekend. Distance coach Robert Chapman said he strategically placed both runners in the mile, hoping for a nice surprise.\n"Because they are seniors, they're both pretty fit from the fitness training of past years, but they're not super sharp right now," Chapman said. "They're both more longer distance guys, but I put them in the mile because it is the most wide-open distance event."\nReddick boasts the ninth-best triple jump and the 10th- best long jump marks in the conference. Even though he competed last week for the first time since the season-opening meet against Michigan, he said he will bounce back from his illness like he has in the past.\n"I've gotten a lot stronger, but I'm nowhere near where I would have been if I hadn't been out the past three weeks," Reddick said. "By the time Saturday and Sunday rolls around, I will be ready for action. It seems like every time something happens and I'm down for awhile, I always come back that much stronger."\nSince the Hoosiers have depth in the distance events, senior Nate Jones and freshman Chad Andrews will be saved until the 5,000-meter run on the second day in hopes that their fresh legs can help them speed past their opponents, who will run in the 3,000-meters the day before.\nTradition also bodes well for the Hoosiers in the distance events. IU won the distance medley relay in 1999, and Chapman said it's within reach again this year.\n"I'd like to focus on the relay, because it's an easy way to score solid points," Chapman said. "There are certainly a lot of things that suggest we can win"