Hoosiers race into NCAA Regionals

Select members of the IU men's track team will catch a flight south today to compete at this weekend's NCAA Regional meet. This is the second year of the new NCAA qualifying format, which takes the top five individuals in each event from each of the five Regional meets, along with a number of at-large selections.\nIU has several athletes poised to make the cut. Among them are junior All-American and NCAA triple-jump leader Aarik Wilson, freshman All-American sprinter David Neville and sophomore All-American distance runner Sean Jefferson, who competed last weekend at the elite Home Depot Invitational in Carson, Calif., finishing fourth in the 1,500-meters in a field of professional athletes. \n"My goal for this meet is just to be in the top five and qualify for NCAA's," said Jefferson, who will race the 1,500-meters. \n"I was happy with my place last weekend, but I'd have liked to run a faster time. It was good to race against the guys I'll be seeing at the Olympic Trials," he said.\nNeville enters the meet fresh off a double victory at the Big Ten Championships, where he stunned Minnesota stars Mitch Potter and Adam Steele. Neville will compete again at both 200 and 400-meters, though his Minnesota rivals are competing in a different region. \n"Even though the Minnesota guys aren't in the region, it's still a tough meet for David," IU coach Randy Heisler said, prior to the Big Ten Championships. "Basically that's because he'll still have the entire Southeastern Conference to contend with."\nNeville will also run a leg on the 4x400-meter relay. If for some reason he were to falter in the 200 or 400-meters, he likely would qualify for the NCAA Championships with an at-large bid. The relay, however, needs his strength to qualify.\n"Regionals will be just another meet for me to try and win my events," Neville said. "I'll also get to help the relay get to Nationals."\nWilson comes into the Regional sure of an at-large bid regardless of his finish. Wilson will also compete in the long jump. However, it will still be important for him to perform well to prepare for the next six weeks, which will include both the NCAA Championships and the Olympic Trials. \nIU has a large contingent of other athletes competing this weekend. The group includes the Hollis twins, Rodney and Russell, in the 800-meters, freshman Marcus Aguilar in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, senior All-American Chris Powers and sophomore Stephen Haas in the 5,000-meters, junior Ryan Ketchum and senior Mike Minton in both the shot put and discus; freshman Kiwan Lawson and junior Jake Wisemanm in both the decathlon and javelin and also a 4x100-meter relay team. \n-- Contact staff writer Rob DeWitte at rdewitte@indiana.edu.