Some Hoosiers post personal bests at Gladstein Invitational

This weekend's Gladstein Invitational saw the IU track and field teams make many strides as they gear up for the Big Ten Championships.\nThe meet, in which more than 900 athletes participated, was hosted by the Hoosiers in the Harry Gladstein Fieldhouse for the second year in a row. \n"We have over 900 athletes here, including some schools from the South, so the competition level is really good," men's head coach Wayne Pate said. "Most of our meets don't often have this level of competition, but thanks to the new track our meets are doubling in size." \nNine athletes posted personal bests, including sophomore Jeff Coover. Coover cleared 5.20 meters in the pole vault, not only setting a personal best, but also clearing the NCAA provisional qualifying height, meaning that Coover will likely be one of a handful of Hoosiers to compete in the NCAA National Championships. \nSenior Stacey Clausing is another athlete likely to go to nationals. She qualified in the 400-meter dash with a time of 54.37 seconds, and will also likely qualify in the 200-meter dash.\n"Our goal for Stacey this weekend was to get her qualified in both the 200 and 400," assistant coach George Freeman said. "She qualified for the 400, but that took a lot out of her for the 200." \nClausing did not qualify for the 200-meter dash, but still won the event posting a time of 24.21 seconds.\n"The coaches have been stricter, and have been pushing us harder during the week," said junior men's sprinter Ryan Smith, who posted a personal best last week at the Indiana Team Classic. "Coach Pate has really been pushing us harder; so has coach Freeman who even has us worrying about the exact angle our bodies are positioned in the starting blocks. Our practices are like competitions between one another, but all in good fun." \nAthletes from IU were able to lock up first place in eight events this weekend, including sophomores Caitlin Lauer and Audrey Smoot as well as senior Molly Beckwith. All three posted personal bests and took the top-three places in the women's 600-meter dash. This was Beckwith's first time competing in the 600-meter dash.\nSuccess this weekend was not limited to just the Hoosiers. Southern Illinois' Brittany Riley set a world record in the women's weight throw. Riley, who has been competing in the weight throw for only three years, swung and then hurled the 20-pound ball attached to a chain a distance of 24.57 meters clearing the automatic qualifying time for the NCAA by more than 3 1/2 meters. "Well that was farther than my last throw," Riley said after the throw. "When they told me it was a world record, I was excited of course, but not overly ecstatic." \nThe throw cleared the previous world record of 24.23 meters set by Erin Gilreath. Both throws were recorded in Bloomington at the Gladstein Fieldhouse.