Drouin garners more end of season awards

Senior high jumper Derek Drouin continues to pile up the awards.

After breaking a 37-year facility record at the Penn Relays last weekend, Drouin was named the Oustanding Male Individual Event Athlete of the 2013 Penn Relay Carnival.
He is the second Hoosier to win the award. Robert Cannon won it in 1978 after winning the triple jump.

Drouin also won Big Ten Field Athlete of the Week for his performance. It is the sixth time he has garnered that award this season, and the 12th time he has won it in his career. The 12 honors are the most in IU history.

Drouin’s jump of 2.33 meters was the highest in the event’s 119-year history, according to a release. It is the second highest jump in the world this season, and is a new IU and Big Ten record.

Drouin has now won the event each of the three years he has competed in the Penn Relays.

“While the Penn Relays is one of the greatest track and field meets in the world and a great atmosphere in which to compete, it is not necessarily the best environment for a high jumper,” IU Track and Field Coach Ron Helmer said in a press release. “Not only is there a lot of distraction, but a jumper has to transition from a field turf surface onto a track surface before jumping. For Derek to eliminate those circumstances and jump to number two in the world is a very impressive feat. He has won three times in that environment in three trips and has shown the ability to compete at the highest level in whatever situation presents itself.”