IU plays host to MidEast Regional

With finals completed and school fast becoming a distant memory, the men's track and field team has a few more tasks to deal with before their summer vacation truly begins. \nAfter taking second place overall at the Big Ten Championships two weeks ago, IU's best team finish in 13 years, the Hoosiers welcome a portion of the NCAA's best to IU for the MidEast Regional. Events start at noon on Friday and Saturday and will conclude with the men's 4 X 400 relay at 9 p.m. at the Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex.\n"Having the Regional meet at home will be very exciting," said senior Aarik Wilson, IU's top national threat in the jumping events. "Hopefully it will allow us to get a few more people through to the National meet."\nWilson, who won NCAA titles indoors in both the triple and long jump, will compete in both events. Though he has been hampered recently by minor injuries, Wilson said he has been training hard.\n"I trained through this meet," said Wilson of the Big Ten Championships. "We'll start tapering down pretty soon."\nThe Regional system is a relatively new incarnation to NCAA track and field. Instituted two years ago, the meet serves as the qualifying round to the NCAA Championships. Athletes must either finish in the top five in their event at the Regional or get an at-large bid to NCAA's based on previous season performance. \nIn order to get an at-large bid, however, the athlete must place sixth, seventh or eighth. Only the decathlon and the 10,000 meters are excluded from the Regional, due to their grueling nature. Senior Jake Wiseman, therefore, after qualifying for NCAA's at Big Ten in the decathlon, might compete in the javelin for the Hoosiers. \nPrimed to advance to the NCAAs with a top notch performance on his home track is sophomore All-American David Neville, who will compete in both the 400 meters and 4 X 400 meter relay, but sit out the 200. \n"I'm really looking forward to going and trying to run a fast time here at home in the 400," said Neville, who boasts a season best of 46.20 seconds. "I think having the meet at home will give us the extra boost we need to run fast. We want to show everyone the great team we have here at IU."\nIU's distance corps is also ready to run. After a season of building strength, they have finally gotten some speedwork into their legs, a welcome training shift to runners like twin juniors Sean and John Jefferson who are most comfortable in a finishing kick. \n"At Big Tens I just couldn't shift gears because we hadn't done any speed training," said Sean Jefferson, a four-time All-American. "At Regional, we'll have that speed."\nOther Hoosiers with a good chance of qualifying to the NCAAs include junior Ryan Ketchum, seeded second in the discus, and junior All-American Stephen Haas, seeded seventh in the 5,000 meters. Haas was an All-American in the event at the 2005 NCAA Indoor Championships and should also benefit from recent speedwork.