IU to have its first outdoor home meet

IU will hold its first home meet of the outdoor track season this weekend, holding the second-ever Indiana Relays at the E.C. Billy Hayes Outdoor Track and Field Complex. The meet is one of three home meets for IU, one of which is the National Collegiate Athletics Association Regional at the end of May. Disappointed after the cancellation of the Florida Relays because of inclement weather last weekend, IU's athletes are ready to get the outdoor season underway and get used to competing on their home track in anticipation of the regional. \n"Having the regional at home will be very exciting," said newly crowned NCAA jumping champ senior Aarik Wilson. "I am anxious to see how it will help the team. Hopefully it will allow us to get a few more people through to NCAAs."\nThe meet is a growing attraction for collegiate squads, as its combination of high school and college competition presents a unique opportunity to scout and attract new recruits. Fourteen high school teams are set to descend upon Bloomington for the meet, and IU hopes to shake out the rust after the Florida cancellation with competition against Central Michigan and Army.\n"I'm disappointed we didn't get to run Florida," said sophomore All-American David Neville. "I wanted to open up big with solid competition, but this weekend I'm running the 200, 400 and 4x400 relay, so it will work just fine."\nAnother athlete looking forward to the outdoor season is senior steeplechaser Tom Burns, whose primary event is only contested outdoors. Despite a sparse indoor season, Burns, who narrowly missed All-America honors in 2004, is still biding his time, aiming for the NCAA Regional and Championships later this summer.\n"We're trying to push everything back a few weeks to be sure to be ready for NCAAs," said Burns, one of the track team's strongest assets. "I haven't yet done much hurdle work, but I may open this weekend in the 1,500 or 5,000."\nThe bulk of IU's distance runners will continue to train for another two weeks, rebuilding strength after a strenuous indoor campaign. The rest of the Hoosiers will be in action.\n"I think that it's time for us to have an event like this that will allow students and other supporters to come watch and cheer," Neville said.\n-- Contact Staff Writer Rob \nDeWitte at rdewitte@indiana.edu.