Drouin wins national championship, men finish 6th, women place 28th at NCAA Indoors

Last season at the NCAA Championships, sophomore Derek Drouin jumped 7 feet and .25 inches to place second in the indoor high jump.

This year, Drouin asserted himself as the best collegiate high jumper in the country after clearing 7 feet 5.75 inches.

From Drouin’s first jump at the championship meet in Fayetteville, Ark., the Ontario native wasted no time capturing the NCAA title. He missed just one attempt before attempting the winning mark, which he cleared on his first try.

“This year, I had bigger expectations for myself,” Drouin said. “We base all of our training around NCAAs, the other meets are training. I knew that I was ready to go because of how well Big Tens went, and I like having the pressure on me.”

Drouin is IU’s first NCAA champion since 2005 and the first Hoosier to ever win the high jump crown.

His All-American performance contributed to the IU men’s team’s sixth place finish, its highest placement since 2005. Other All-American worthy marks for the Hoosier men came from senior pole vaulter Jeff Coover, juniors De’Sean Turner, Kind Butler and Daniel Stockberger and sophomore Andrew Poore.

Freshman Andy Bayer earned two All-American certificates for his efforts in the 3K and distance medley relay. With four laps remaining in the DMR, Bayer had the baton knocked out of his hand, dropping him 15 meters from the lead, but he rallied to lead the team to a seventh-place finish.

In the 3K, Bayer placed third with a time of 8:11.19 seconds after leading the field with only one lap left. Bayer said being ahead of some of the fastest collegiate athletes in the country was a surreal experience.

“It was weird to have these guys behind me,” he said. “I would have never expected to be right there with those guys a couple years ago.”

The IU women’s team received its strongest performances from junior Faith Sherrill and seniors Ashley Rhoades and Molly Beckwith. The team came in 28th place with eight points, the most points scored by an IU women’s team since 2003.

Sherrill and Rhoades both finished in seventh place in the weight throw and high jump, respectively. Beckwith improved upon her own IU record in the 800 meter with a time of 2:04.46, good for a fifth-place finish.

All three Hoosiers earned All-American certificates for these marks. In total, 10 Hoosiers were awarded 12 All-American certificates at the NCAA Indoor Championships. This is the highest number of Hoosier track and field All-Americans ever in a single season. IU coach Ron Helmer sees this year’s season as positive momentum, which can be built on.

“We’re moving in the right direction,” Helmer said. “The ability to improve in a short time means we’ve started to build something that could be really special as it moves forward.”