IU track and field sees standout performances

When it’s hard to pick a standout performance from the weekend, it’s either been a bad weekend or a great weekend for IU’s men’s and women’s track and field teams.

This time it was a good one.

With the Hoosiers participating in the Texas Relays and Stanford Invitational, all the team’s top athletes were in action this weekend.

Senior Derek Drouin was one of those strong performers at the Texas Relays, winning the men’s high jump by clearing 2.30 meters (7 feet 6.5 inches). That is the best outdoor jump in the world this year and just a centimeter short of his lifetime outdoor best.

The field Drouin competed against was similar to the one he took on in the 2013 NCAA Indoor Championships. There were six of the same athletes in this field, including the top three.

“You don’t put kids on a plane like that unless you think they’re ready to give a great effort,” IU Associate Head Coach Jeff Huntoon said. “On all accounts we were really pleased with the effort and ecstatic with the results.”

Huntoon spent the weekend in Texas with the multi and field athletes who went to compete.

On Wednesday and Thursday, senior Courtney Woodard competed in the women’s heptathlon while a pair of freshmen in Dylan Anderson and Stephen Keller took on their first collegiate decathlon.

Woodard took 11th in the event and her score of 5160 was just 27 points shy of her lifetime best. Her performance was highlighted by a personal record shot put of 12.77-meters (41 feet 10.75 inches), the best of any heptathlon participant on Wednesday.
Anderson and Keller finished 17th and 18th, respectively, in the decathlon.

“As freshmen when you can get into a scene like this, it’s a big stage,” Huntoon said. “Those two will be national qualifiers in a couple years and they’ll learn to start thinking bigger.”

On Friday, the Hoosiers picked up their first two of three victories over the weekend.
Junior Kyla Buckley launched a huge throw in the shot put of 17.28-meters (56 feet 8.5 inches). That throw put her atop the Big Ten this season, as well as second on the Division I list.

“We’ve started to see a calm come over Kyla when she competes,” Huntoon said. “She’s slowed down and that’s a really good thing.”

Freshman Sarah Maxson was responsible for the team’s other win of the night, as she topped the “B” section of the high jump by clearing 1.75-meters (5 feet 8.75 inches)  on her first attempt.

Meanwhile, that same night in Palo Alto, Calif., 11 IU distance runners competed in the historic Stanford Invitational 5000-meter run.

Seniors Andy Bayer and Zach Mayhew finished third and eighth, respectively, in the “A” section. Bayer’s time of 13:34.84 was just 1.7 seconds off his lifetime best and was the fifth-fastest in IU history.

Sophomore Samantha Ginther and senior Kelsey Duerksen took on the “B” section of the women’s race and finished back-to-back in 11th and 12th, respectively. Before the meet, IU Assistant Distance Coach Rebecca Walter said that running under 16:30 was their goal and both accomplished that with times of 16:15.34 and 16:18.24.

“Samantha is someone who’s been on the verge of breaking out, but needed a couple races to gain confidence,” Huntoon said. “Now she’s shown she’s ready to compete against the best in the country.”

Wrapping up the weekend for the Hoosiers, senior Emma Kimoto finished seventh in the “A” flight of the women’s high jump on Saturday and tied Maxson’s jump by clearing the 1.75-meter height.

This puts them in a tie for the Big Ten lead on the season.

The Hoosiers’ next competition will be April 4-6 in Gainesville, Fla., as the Hoosiers join the field at the Pepsi Florida Relays. For now, the Hoosiers will just enjoy a successful weekend and try to keep the momentum going, Huntoon said.

“We were hoping for the best when the weekend started out,” Huntoon said. “We got that and were very pleased. Now it’s a matter of translating that into good performances in the future.”