Hoosiers prep for Big Ten's with Indiana Invitational

The IU women's track and field team competes in the Indiana Invitational today and tomorrow at the Harry Gladstein Fieldhouse. Twenty-six different universities or track clubs are represented in the Indiana Invitational with either full team squads or select individuals competing.\nLast weekend, IU traveled to Columbia, Mo., and competed in the Tiger Classic at the University of Missouri. This meet did not keep a team score, but junior sprinter Ara Towns earned IU's first NCAA provisional qualifying mark in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.43 seconds, which also set the Hearnes Center Fieldhouse record.\nIU coach Randy Heisler said for as poorly as the team ran two weeks ago in Columbus, Ohio, against Ohio State and Purdue, the team was able to come back a week later and have a combined 23 men and women set season or lifetime bests at the Tiger Classic. \nHe said the focus this weekend for the Indiana Invitational is to have each athlete focus on their individual race since a team score is not kept.\n"The downside is we're still only at about less than half a dozen athletes that have provisionally qualified for the NCAAs," Heisler said. "As many (NCAA provisional qualifiers) we can get this weekend is pretty much the objective."\nJunior high jumper Christina Archibald, who also plays volleyball for IU in the fall, sat out last track and field season due to injury. Archibald is looking to build on last weekend's meet, the Tiger Classic, where she cleared 1.64 meters.\n"I just want to get my legs underneath me, and I hope to do well," Archibald said. "That is the only thing I can ask for myself is to do as well as I can."\nFreshman sprinter Michele Huber said her goal in the Indiana Invitational is to set a new personal record in the 400-meter dash.\n"I am going to have to try to win my heat and definitely get top two, or I won't have a chance of making it out," Huber said. "After that, we'll just see how everyone else does to make it to the finals."\nThe meet starts today at noon with the indoor pentathlon events and runs until 9:35 p.m. with the women's distance medley finals. The meet starts again at 11:15 a.m. Saturday with the running of the second section of the women's 5,000-meter run and concludes at 2:45 p.m. with the women's 4x400-meter relay finals.\nIU students are admitted for free to the Indiana Invitational with a valid IU student identification.\n-- Contact staff writer Steve Slivka at smslivka@indiana.edu.