Team looks to tame Wolverines

The IU men's track team opens the indoor track season against the Michigan Wolverines tomorrow at noon in the Gladstein Fieldhouse. The Hoosiers are expecting big things this season. All-American pole vaulter Dino Efthimiou and Big Ten champion Contrell Ash, who runs the 100- and 200-meter dashes, are two of the many point-scorers who return this season for the Hoosiers.\nThe Hoosiers have some experience and are ready to get the season started.\n"We are ready to compete," Ash said. "Training has been hard up to this point. And the meet will be more training, but I think we will still perform well."\nDistance runner John Jefferson feels the same way.\n"I know as a team, we want to come out strong," Jefferson said.\nIU was also able to bring in one of the best recruiting classes in the nation to go with the returning point scorers. The recruiting class was ranked second in the nation by Track and Field News. The No. 1-ranked recruiting class happens to be none other than Michigan, which means this meet pits some of the best talent in the nation against each other. \nThe men's distance team gained some of the most talented freshman in the country. The Jefferson twins (John and Sean) were named 2001 high school All-Americans. Sean won the Florida state championship in the mile three consecutive years, while John finished second to Michigan freshman Alan Webb, who was the Big Ten Champion in cross country, at the 2001 Arcadia Invitational in California, with a time of 4:05.54.\nStephen Haas, from North Carolina, was a state champion in both the mile and two mile. He was also a Nike Indoor All-American.\nThe jumpers were also able to get some talent. UnRico Lloyd, a talented long jumper and sprinter, was a state champion in Virginia in both the long jump and the 100 and 200. He also anchored the Penn Relay 4x400 team that beat the Jamaican National team, the first time that has happened in more than a decade. High jumper Noah Shelton will also help the Hoosiers out this season. Shelton was an Indiana state champion in the high jump during his senior year.\nThese freshmen believe they can help make IU one of the Big Ten's elite in track and field.\n"We got some good guys this year," Sean Jefferson said. "I think it depends on how long it takes us to develop into experienced athletes. If not this year, than probably next year"