Sprinters clutch at NCAAs

The IU women's track and field team finished its indoor season tied for eighth place with UCLA after sending three of its top athletes to the NCAA Indoor Championships in Fayettville, Ark., on March 14-15. All three athletes, seniors Rachelle Boone, Danielle Carruthers and Rose Richmond, finished in the top three in one event and earned All-American status. Boone competed in the 60- and 200-meter dashes, Carruthers competed in the 60 dash and 60 hurdles, and Richmond competed in the long jump.\nAfter day one of the championships, IU was tied with Stanford for second place, just one point shy of first place Louisiana State. \nIn one of the closest races of the day, Carruthers finished second in the 60 hurdles for the second year in a row. Carruthers beat rival Perdita Felicien of Illinois but was edged by LSU's Lolo Jones, who won by just one-hundredth of a second. Carruthers finished third in her heat of the 60-meter dash preliminaries and did not qualify for the finals. \nRichmond also ended day one as a national runner-up. Richmond, who is this year's Big Ten Champion in the long jump, finished second behind Elva Goulbourne of Auburn, the owner of the world's best jump thus far this year. \nBoone finished third in the 200, tying her personal best time set at last year's championships. \n"It was nice for them after the first day, being tied for second place in the country," coach Randy Heisler said. "The downside is that only Rachelle (Boone) was going back for day two."\nBoone, who was undefeated during the regular season in the 60- and 200-meter dashes and is the Big Ten Champion in both events, finished ninth in the 60 on day two. \n"For our program to think about winning nationals, we need to bring back more athletes to score on the second day," Heisler said. \nHeisler said that, though all three of the athletes finished near the top in their respective events, they weren't completely satisfied with their performances. \n"I got a sense on that first night that none of them were happy," he said. "They were in it to win."\nHe emphasized, however, that the athletes have nothing to be ashamed of.\n"They realize they did all they could," he said. \nHeisler said that the team's performance at nationals will provide a solid foundation for the outdoor season.\n"It was a good experience," he said. "We want to keep building for outdoor nationals and regionals."\nThe team kicks off its outdoor season March 28 in Gainesville, Fla., at the Florida Relays.