Another Hoosier Hurdle

Despite an exhausting schedule thus far, the IU men’s and women’s track and field teams are just getting into the heart of their championship season.\nThe team will send a total of 23 athletes to compete Friday and Saturday in the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships hosted by the University of Arkansas at John McDonnell Field in Fayetteville, Ark. \nThe regional meet is one that athletes qualify for by besting certain marks during the regular season. Although IU coach Ron Helmer and his team came up short of their goal of 30 athletes, he said having 23 compete in the meet is still an accomplishment. The Hoosiers will send 8 women and 15 men to the meet. \nOne of the athletes that will compete is senior Ryan Smith, who captured the bronze medal in the 400-meter hurdles at the Big Ten Championships two weeks ago, is excited to compete against a field of talented athletes. \n“I know how tough the competition is, and competing with those big dogs is an honor,” Smith said in an e-mail. \nHelmer said he felt the high level of competition will help his team.\n“It should bring about the best in us,” he said.\nDespite being ranked 16th going into the meet, Smith said he is not worried about the seeding. \n“I’m really just trying to run my own race and not focus on seeds,” he said. “I know that if I focus on running the race I know I can run, everything’s going to work out all right.” \nThe top five athletes in each event will automatically qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships on June 11-14 in Des Moines, Iowa. \nA selection committee will review the performances of athletes finishing out of the top five and decide who will complete the field to compete for the national championship.\nHelmer thinks that among his athletes, a few have a great chance of making it to the national meet. Those include seniors Kiwan Lawson and Kyle Jenkins, who are ranked fourth and first in the long jump and triple jump, respectively.\nThe Hoosiers also have three talented pole vaulters in freshman Stephanie Chin, sophomore Vera Neuenswander and junior Jeff Coover. Coover comes into the regional competition seeded first, while Chin is third and Neuenswander is ninth. \nOne Hoosier who will not have to qualify to compete at the national tournament is senior Abbie Stechschulte. Stechschulte, a Columbus Grove, Ohio, native, transferred last year from West Virginia where she was an All-American in the pentathlon.\nStechschulte automatically qualified in the heptathlon, an event in which points are accumulated in seven events, at the Texas Relays in early April. She was the collegiate champion in the event, scoring 5,661 points, the second-highest total in school history.\nAnother one of the women traveling to Arkansas for her first regional meet is sophomore thrower Faith Sherrill.\nSherrill said she is proud of the group of throwers she works with and noted all have recorded career bests in one or more events this season.\n“The throwers as a group have worked harder than ever,” she said in an e-mail. “We come to practice everyday and bust our butts to be the best that we can be.”\nHelmer said he expects that most of his athletes are progressing well in their training and are at a point where they should be able to rise to the occasion and come up with top marks.\n“I think they are going to perform at their very best,” he said.