Hoosiers new and old shine at Gladstein Invite

The Gladstein Invitational celebrated former and current IU track and field athletes throughout the weekend with record-setting performances by both
parties.

Olympic bronze medalist and 2013 IU graduate Derek Drouin broke his own world record in the men’s heptathlon high jump.

He cleared 2.29 meters (7 feet 6.25 inches), beating the former 2.27-meter record he set last year in Geneva, Ohio.

Adding to the record books was IU alumna Molly Beckwith Ludlow, who clocked the third-fastest 800-meter time in the world at two minutes 2.13 seconds, a new fieldhouse record.

Not to be outdone, IU track and field provided a nice complement to the stellar performance of its former athletes.

The Hoosiers won three events and set six top-10 program records in addition to setting three top-10 marks in the NCAA.

Two of the NCAA best times came during the men’s three-kilometer
invitational.

IU sophomore Matt Schwartzer and freshman Jason Crist finished three-four in the race to set the third and fourth fastest times in the nation.

The duo clocked in at 8 minutes 5.77 seconds and 8 minutes 6.33 seconds
respectively.

Both athletes beat their personal records by more than 10 seconds.

Schwartzer said he was proud of his top-three NCAA performance so early in the season.

“If I could say the same thing in the middle of February, I’d be excited,” Schwartzer said.

IU Coach Ron Helmer said it was no accident that his men’s distance squad finished eighth in the Cross-Country Championship, but added that he still expects more from them.

“That shows you where my head is,” he said. “They were number three, four in the country, and it wasn’t good enough.”

Senior Kyla Buckley had the other stand-out performance by the Hoosiers.
Coming off an early-season injury, she threw for 16.7 meters in the shot put to snag the fifth-best mark in the nation.

Buckley won the Big Ten title in the shot put as a junior and has high aspirations for her final season at IU.

“I want to make a lot of noise at the NCAA meet, try to put myself out there and do some things I’ve never done,” she said. “Maybe a National Championship, maybe an All-American.”

The Hoosiers emphasized that same kind of attitude in their post-meet talk.
Rather than hearing another speech from Helmer, the athletes received a special surprise.

Jack Harbaugh, father of NFL head coaches Jim and John Harbaugh and father-in-law of IU basketball coach Tom Crean, shared numerous stories with the team on the subject of attitude, determination and facing fears.
 
“He loved talking to those kids,” Helmer said. “When somebody has a passion for delivering that message, that probably means as much as the message itself.”

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