Men's track finishes second at Big Tens

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The Big Ten Outdoor Track Championships provided plenty of highlights and excitement for Hoosier fans as IU athletes brought home a number of individual titles and a large number of top finishes. The highlights culminated in the men's team finishing second overall with a total score of 111 points, IU's best team finish since 1992. \nThe men's track team enjoyed several standout performances, as well as a couple of double winners. \nThe most exciting finish of the meet came in the 3,000 meter steeplechase, where senior Tom Burns grabbed a surprising victory, running down Ohio State's Aaron Fisher in the final fifty meters for a 2 second victory in a final time of 8 minutes and 45 seconds. \n"I won today because I ran perfect strategically," Burns said. "It wasn't because I ran the fastest or the strongest, it was because I ran smart. It was just great to get the win."\nSenior Aarik Wilson took both the triple and long jump titles, winning handily in both events. Wilson jumped over eight meters in the long jump and was the only competitor over sixteen meters in the triple jump.\n"I've got a little bit of a groin injury," said Wilson after his triple jump victory. "I trained through this meet, so when we start tapering down, it'll be fine."\nSenior Jake Wiseman almost grabbed the victory in the decathlon, finishing 2nd after a grueling weekend with 7,339 points. The mark did however qualify him for the NCAA Championships in Sacramento, Calif. in four weeks. \nJunior Stephanos Ioannou and sophomore All-American David Neville were workhorses for IU. Ioannou finished 3rd in the 110 hurdles, 8th in the 100 meters helping IU to a sixth place finish in the 4 X 100 meter relay. Neville spent the weekend defending his 400 meter dash title easily with a time of 45.83 seconds. He also gave IU two second-place finishes, as he finished 2nd in the 200 meter dash and anchored the 4 X 400 meter relay team home in second place in 3:09. \nJunior All-American Sean Jefferson ran out of track in the 1,500 meters, nearly running down two Wisconsin runners in the final meters to finish third in 3:44. He got a little bit of redemption in the 5,000 meters, finishing 5th. \n"We just haven't done enough speed work yet," said Jefferson, who won the event in 2004. "I don't feel flat or burnt out or anything, we just need to get the speed going. We will though and then we'll really run fast."\nJunior Ryan Ketchum also worked hard for IU, finishing 2nd in the discus and 4th in the shot put. \nOn the women's side, sophomores Stacey Clausing and Lorian Price led IU. Clausing grabbed a convincing victory in the 200 meters, winning in 23.51 seconds. She also finished second in the 400 meters in 53.12 seconds and anchored IU's runner-up 4 X 400 meter relay to a second place finish. Price grabbed a solid victory in the 100 meter hurdles in 13.70 seconds. The women finished 8th overall.