Derek Drouin clinches second national championship in 2010

Winning a national championship once is something many athletes spend their whole lives dreaming about and never get the chance to achieve. But sophomore Derek Drouin has managed to win not one, but two NCAA National Championships in the same year.

The high jumper snagged the top spot during the 2010 Indoor National Championships and again at this past weekend’s 2010 Outdoor Championship in Eugene, Ore., after jumping 2.26 meters. Drouin is the first Hoosier to ever win indoor and outdoor titles in the same event and in the same calendar year.

Drouin said that initially during his freshman year, it had been his goal to just make nationals by his sophomore year.

“It’s just really surreal right now,” Drouin said of his success and his two championships.

“It feels awesome,” he continued. “It was a sweet victory. My goal in each competition is to get the first attempt. I try to not look at others. It got a little nervous here at the end ... the fans here at Hayward Field were incredible. I can’t wait to compete here again.”  
Drouin, although only in his second year of eligibility, holds the IU high jump record and is a three-time All-American.

The Hoosiers left Eugene with four other athletes earning All-America honors and three athletes placing in the top five of their events.

Senior Molly Beckwith became IU’s third All-American all-time in the 800-meter with her second-place finish of 2:02.14, a personal best and the second best in IU history. Beckwith improved on her career-best time by .04 seconds in Friday’s final, but she was still .74 seconds behind the winner, Tennessee’s Phoebe Wright.

However, Beckwith did accomplish an obstacle she set for herself after cruising to a win in her prelims heat.

“I’m very, very consistent at 2:03, and I feel very comfortable there,” Beckwith said. “I know on Friday I’m going to have to get out of my comfort zone a little bit, and I’d really like to see what I can do.”

Beckwith was able to push past that 2:03 comfort mark and earn a podium finish, as well as All-America honors for the second time.

“I was really happy with how it went,” Beckwith said. “I felt composed, I passed at the right times, and I didn’t make any unnecessary moves, so I was really happy about it.”

Also finishing within the top five was junior Sarah Pease, who finished fourth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, an improvement from her 2009 nationals finish of seventh. Pease has now earned All-America honors in back-to-back seasons in the steeplechase.

Pease, after qualifying for the finals, said she would like to beat her personal record and finish in the top three in the finals. Her time of 9:56.91 was good enough for a personal best and beat her previous personal best, which was also a school record.
“I really would have liked to be top three, but I didn’t do it, so I’m happy with fourth,” Pease said. “It’s an improvement from last year, and next year I’ll just try to get better.”

While she may have not gotten her desired top-three finish, she did have the highest outdoor finish for a Hoosier in an event longer than the 800-meter since 1987, when Colette Goudreau finished third in the 3,000-meter. 

While Pease could have easily been disappointed about not making her goal, she instead was optimistic about how far she had come and about the next step, the USA Track and Field Jr. and Sr. Championships.

“I wanted to be top five at the beginning of the year,” she said. “I ran my first one and I ran 10:05, and I thought, ‘You know, maybe I can get a top five,’ and then coming
into the meet it was probably top three, but I’ll take fourth and just get ready for USAs.”
The Hoosiers’ other two All-America honorees were both in field events. Senior Jeff Coover finished tied for fifth place in the pole vault, and junior Faith Sherrill came in sixth in the shot put.

Coover, with his finish, became a four-time All-American and is only the third Hoosier pole vaulter to ever accomplish that feat, following former greats Dave Volz and Mark Buse.

Four other Hoosiers who made the trip to Eugene all finished in the top 15 in their events. In the 5,000-meter, sophomores Ben Hubers and Andrew Poore finished in 12th and 13th place, respectively. Freshman Kelsie Abhe finished 14th in the pole vault, and junior De’Sean Turner came in 12th place in the 3,000-meter steeplechase.
The next step for several of the Hoosiers is USAs June 24-27 in Des Moines, Iowa.