Butler sets school record, 1 of many wins in Hoosier Open

Indiana’s track and field team officially kicked off its indoor season by participating in the Hoosier Open on Dec. 9, at Gladstein Fieldhouse.

The night’s marquee event was the men’s 5000-meter race, where seven IU men attempted to qualify for nationals.

All Hoosiers, however, fell short of the 13:44.06 mark for an automatic bid.

Senior Ben Hubers finished second with a time of 13:46.07. Senior Andrew Poore crossed the finish line right behind him in third place at 13:47.05.

Northern Arizona’s Diego Estrada won the event, setting a Gladstein record at 13:39.54.

“We didn’t get the automatic bid, but last year, 13:48 got into the meet,” IU Coach Ron Helmer said. “There’s a really good chance that the two times Hubers and Poore ran tonight will hold up and put them into the national meet. And if it doesn’t, then we’ll run it again in February.”

Though Hubers did not attain the necessary time to qualify for Nationals, his finish was just six seconds short of his career best, which he set at last year’s NCAA Championships.

“We ran a good race,” Hubers said. “It’s disappointing because we did this for the purpose of qualifying, but it’s also difficult to be that disappointed when I was six seconds off my best time in December. That’s pretty unheard of.”

Hubers said he was still glad they decided to run the race this December as a way to assess the team’s conditioning.

“It’s a great way to tell where we’re at physically,” he said. “I know a lot of us are tired, but obviously we can perform pretty well when we’re tired. The only way we’re going to find out is if we do it.”

Although IU didn’t win the 5000-meter race or claim a spot in the national meet, there were plenty of other winners for IU.

Sophomore Kyla Buckley won a pair of events with her performances in the women’s shot put and weight throw. Senior Kind Butler and junior Aireonna Bailey both won their respective 55- and 300-meter races.Butler’s time of 6.27 in the 55-meter dash ranks sixth all time on the IU list, while his 300-meter dash set an IU record at 33.57.

“He showed us last year that he’s very talented,” Helmer said. “That was a great performance, and he’s way ahead of where he has ever been this time of year.”

Butler, a 200-meter All-American, said he wasn’t focused on trying to break records in either of his races.

“I was really hoping to go a little bit faster in both of them, but starting our first meet with both of those times is pretty good,” he said. “I’m not really thinking about (records). I’m just thinking about Olympic trials.”

Helmer said the team will have some down time before its next meet, allowing the athletes to focus on finals and go home for break. That doesn’t mean the training will stop, though.

“If I’m taking a break, somebody else is getting better,” Butler said. “I can’t have that.”