Lucky 7 depart for NCAA Championships

Last week while most of the IU track and field team enjoyed a trip to Lake Monroe, seven athletes had another focus. \nInstead of experiencing the sun out on the water, they practiced during a blistering sunny day on the track in preparation for the NCAA Outdoor Championships, June 11-14 in Des Moines, Iowa. \nWith many of the team’s athletes recording good marks earlier in the year, IU coach Ron Helmer believes this week should be no different. \n“The fact that they have done it before should give them confidence to do it again,” he said. \nKiwan Lawson and Kyle Jenkins are seniors, teammates and roommates, and have already added to their combined Big Ten medal count, which now stands at 12. At the Big Ten Outdoor Championships last month, both Lawson and Jenkins won gold medals in the long jump and triple jump, respectively. \nJenkins goes into the championships this week ranked ninth nationally in the triple jump, but said he thinks he can place higher. Two years ago, he garnered All-American honors in the event, but when he failed to make nationals earlier this year in the indoor season he worked even harder to improve.\n“Not making nationals indoor motivated me the most,” he said. \nJunior Jeff Coover will be making the trip to nationals for the first time in his collegiate career. Coover goes into the meet ranked 10th nationally in the pole vault, but said he is looking forward to the chance to be an All-American, an award given to the top nine finishers in each event. \n“There is a chance for me to be All-American, which is really exciting for me,” he said. “I’m feeling really good going in.”\nCoover will be joined on the trip to nationals by freshman pole vaulter Stephanie Chin. Chin, a Bloomington High School South graduate, believed her season was over after she vaulted 3.81 meters to finish 13th at the NCAA Mideast Regional meet just more than a week ago. \nThe top five in an event from each of four regional meets automatically advance to the national meet. After the regional meet, a committee reviews the performances of athletes finishing in places 6 to 12 and decides who will complete the field at the national meet. \nA few athletes in the pole vault scratched, which allowed Chin to climb into the top 12. A career-best and school-record vault of 4.25 meters earlier this season won her a spot. Chin currently ranks seventh in the country in the pole vault. \nOne unexpected effect of the system culminated in sophomore vaulter Vera Neuenswander not making the field. Neuenswander finished eighth in the regional, but her best of 4.10 meters ended up being one centimeter short of earning her a spot in the national meet. \nNeuenswander, who was one of 22 Big Ten athletes named Big Ten Outstanding Sportsmanship Award winners last week, currently ranks 24th in the nation in the pole vault. \nNeither Chin nor Coover have beaten their respective season-best marks since the Sea Ray Relays in early April. IU coach Jake Wiseman, who works with the pole vaulters, said the event can be very deceiving because it’s so technical, and physically and mentally everything has to be in place to succeed. \nOn the women’s side, sophomore Molly Beckwith will compete in the 800-meter run, while seniors Courtney Johnson and Abbie Stechschulte will compete in the 100-meter hurdles and the heptathlon, respectively.\nStechschulte, who transferred from West Virginia where she was an All-Amierican last year said she is excited to compete in her last NCAA championships. \n“I’ve been looking forward to this for a really long time,” she said. “It’s the last one, so nothing to lose really.”\nStechschulte ranks fourth in the country in the heptathlon, which is a series of seven events in which points are accumulated and totaled up in each event, but is going into competition less than 100 percent. \nFour weeks ago during practice Stechschulte fell during a hurdle drill. A MRI reviled that everything was fine, and that she had just a little inflammation in her anterior cruciate ligament. \nEverything was not fine at the Big Ten Championships three weeks ago, though. Stechschulte heard a popping sound during her first event and had to withdrawal from competition. \nShe had another MRI this past weekend which showed a partial tear in her posterior cruciate ligament. \nStechschulte said the injury has been very disappointing since she usually doesn’t sit out for any reason, but with this injury there isn’t much she can do, only hope for the best. \nHelmer thinks he has a talented group traveling to meet this week, and is excited to see what they can do. \n“It’s a good group and they all belong there,” he said.