Track teams grab wins against Purdue

If there were any doubts as to how significant a victory against Purdue would be for the men’s and women’s track teams, they were erased following Saturday’s dual-meet at Harry Gladstein Fieldhouse.

“Yeah, it’s Purdue,” IU Coach Ron Helmer said. “It means a lot to beat your in-state rival, a team we recruit against a lot. They’ve had their time, right now we’re having our time. Our kids enjoy beating Purdue. We (coaches) enjoy beating Purdue.”

Helmer’s Hoosier squads combined to win a slew of events on the way to two overall team victories. The men’s team won with a score of 88-46, while the women handed the Boilermakers a 97-39 loss.

On the men’s side, the sprints continued to be the difference-maker, with senior Kind Butler leading the way.

Butler earned first place finishes in the 60-meter dash in a time of 6.76 seconds and the 200-meter dash in 21.35 seconds, which set a meet record.

“I’m pretty happy with the 200, but with the 60, I’m trying to run at least a 6.5 to qualify for nationals,” Butler said. “The 200 is a step-by-step process, but a 21.35 is pretty good for the first meet.”

Butler said he always feels motivated to get better, but having sophomore teammate
Tyler Sult running next to him during meets and practices only adds to that motivation.

“Me and Tyler, we’re like one and two,” Butler said. “We’re really good friends, and we just keep pushing each other in each event, whether it be in practices or meets. We really make each other better.”

The men’s team had another solid day from its distance squad, with junior Andrew Bayer finishing first in the 1-mile run, and senior Adrien Dannemiller crossing the finish line first in the 3,000 meters.

“I talked with Coach earlier in the week, and we talked about my plan in the (3,000) being to run the final thousand meters as fast as I could and win doing that,” Dannemiller said. “That’s exactly what I did, and it got me a victory. It was perfect execution.”

The women’s distance squad earned first and second place finishes in both the 1-mile run and the 3,000 meters.

Junior Kelsey Duerksen and senior Breanne Ehrman finished 13 seconds ahead of third place in the 1-mile run, in times of 4:44.44 and 4:44.67, respectively.

Senior Chelsea Blanchard and senior Caitlin Engel swept the 3,000 meters, finishing in times of 9:46.03 and 9:52.22, respectively.

Dannemiller said he was satisfied with dominating the Boilermakers.

“Any time IU and Purdue compete, there’s some extra emotional involvement,” Dannemiller said. “There’s extra energy there. It’s fun to harness that energy, and it helps take your performance to the next level.”