Hoosiers make mark at USA Track and Field Championships

Redemption only creates its opportunities after disappointment. Fortunately for Sarah Pease, she was able to seize one of those chances with her fourth-place finish in the 3,000-meter steeplechase Sunday at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

This was the second consecutive fourth-place finish for the IU senior, who also placed fourth at the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Championships, after which she said she had really been after a top-three finish.

However, this fourth-place finish had a much different meaning this time. It made her the top-finishing collegiate runner at the meet as she was defeated by only three professionals.

“I just didn’t finish well the last lap at Nationals,” Pease said after the race. “So I wanted to make sure this time I was passing people and not falling back.”
Pease finished in 10:07.34, just 0.17 seconds ahead of this year’s Big Ten and NCAA Champion in the event, Bridget Franek of Penn State.

“As the Big Ten and NCAA champ, [Franek] was a big target for all of the runners,” IU coach Ron Helmer said. “In beating her, Sarah became the top college finisher, and that’s pretty cool.”

With a fifth year of eligibility remaining, Pease will return next year and potentially vie for a national championship in the event.

Freshman Kelsie Ahbe also captured a top-five finish in the junior pole vault, taking second place. Her finish qualified her for the IAAF Junior World Championships.
Her vault of 4.05 meters (13-3.5) was bested only by freshman Shade Weygandt of Texas Tech at 4.28 meters (14-00.5). They were the only two vaulters to clear 13 feet at the meet. Ahbe’s second-place finish marks the highest place at this meet for any athlete under Helmer.

Helmer said it was a great opportunity for Ahbe to wear the U.S. jersey and compete against more of the best in the world.

“It’s great for our program but also great for her to have that experience,” he said.
The IAAF World Junior Championships will be held July 19-25 in Canada.

Other highlights included senior Jeff Coover, who finished his IU career in a three-way tie for seventh place in the senior pole vault, clearing 5.35 meters (17-6.5).

Sophomore Andrew Poore ran 8:58.25 in the two-heat preliminaries for the 3,000-meter steeplechase and finished 15th, barely missing out on one of the top 14 qualifying spots.

Junior De’Sean Turner’s time, of 9:08.22, also in the steeplechase, was good for 20th place.

In the high jump, senior Ashley Rhoades took eighth place with a clearance of 1.80 meters (5-10.75), and also in the field events, junior Faith Sherrill finished tenth in the shot put with her heave of 16.56 meters (54-4) just 5.5 inches out of seventh place.

Unfortunately, not all news was good for the Hoosiers at USA’s. Senior Molly Beckwith, following a second-place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, was knocked down in her preliminary heat of the 800-meter run. A coaches protest was rejected, and Beckwith finished in a time of 2:15.89, good for 28th place. Junior Lindsey Hartman finished 25th in the same event, clocking a time of 2:10.77.

One more narrow miss for the Hoosiers was from freshman Courtney Woodard, who finished just 59 points outside the top 10 in the junior heptathlon with a score of 4,649.