Hoosiers shoot for NCAA berths in coming months

After a highly successful beginning to the outdoor season, the IU men’s and women’s track and field squads will continue their quests to the NCAA Outdoor Championships despite the semester coming to a close.

On Friday, the Hoosiers will partake in the Billy Hayes Invitational on the Bloomington campus at Billy Hayes Track.

The event will be a warm-up for the Big Ten Outdoor Championships, which will take place the following week at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wis.

The Hoosier men’s squad will be seeking to capitalize on its Big Ten Indoor Championship by taking the outdoor title, as well.

The meet will mark the end of the season for those athletes who have not qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships.

Those athletes who have qualified will see their seasons extended. The weekend of May 24-26 will feature the NCAA East Preliminary Round in Jacksonville, Fla.

Any athletes who make it through the preliminary rounds will advance to the heralded NCAA Outdoor Championships in Des Moines, Iowa, on the campus of the University of Iowa.

Hoosier athletes to keep an eye on for the Outdoor Championships are senior sprinter Kind Butler, junior high jumper Derek Drouin, junior distance runners Andrew Bayer and Zach Mayhew and senior Andrew Poore, among others.

On the women’s side, junior pole vaulter Kelsie Ahbe will seek to make a return trip to the NCAA tournament, where she finished sixth in 2011.  Senior distance runner Breanne Ehrman will attempt to qualify for the Outdoor Championships a season after only making it to the preliminary round.