Track runners post top finishes in multiple meets

In the first home meet for the IU track and field squads, the Hoosiers posted a number of top finishes.

IU Coach Ron Helmer’s athletes did just enough to eke out a team victory at the Polytan Invitational on a blustery, cold afternoon Sunday at Billy Hayes Track.

“For the most part, we have more and more people doing a really good job,” Helmer said. “There are a lot of places where people are doing really good things.”

Senior female distance runner Breanne Ehrman represented the program by dominating the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase Sunday afternoon, finishing with a time of 10:04.25. She is now ranked sixth nationally in the event.

“It’s really exciting,” Ehrman said. “I just wanted to come out and run fast today. There have been some other girls in the Big Ten Conference putting up some big numbers, so I was just ready to get a fast time.”

Four others with victories during the weekend were seniors Andy Weatherford, De’Sean Turner, Adrien Dannemiller and Andrew Poore. The group swept the top four places in the 3,000-meter steeplechase at the Larry Ellis Memorial at Princeton University.

Poore’s time of 8:36.41 is the top collegiate mark in the event this season, while Turner turned in the nation’s second-best mark at 8:36.61.

“It’s cool because we’re all fifth-year seniors who live within 50 miles of each other back home that have all been pretty close since the beginning,” Poore said. “It shows the growth of our program.”

Poore said those results were the product of consistent training and hard work, for lack of a better phrase.

“It’s definitely worth it,” Poore said. “I know for myself, I hadn’t gotten the results I was looking for, especially during cross country and the indoor season. It was definitely worth the wait, and the other guys would agree with that.”

Helmer was on hand to watch the quartet, which was special for the fifth-year head coach, considering he typically would not travel with such a small group.

“I did that trip for me, as much as for them,” Helmer said. “They were going to run just fine if I was there or not. I needed to be there and feel that because it helps me get focused on the product of the program, and they represent what I think is a very positive product of our program.”