IU teams with Purdue to take Border Battle

Big Ten Indoor Champion Kelsie Ahbe picked up where she left off in the women’s pole vault, setting the meet and stadium record at the Border Battle in Cardinal Park last Saturday.

The Border Battle pitted rivals IU and Purdue against Louisville and Notre Dame in a team format.

“To go ahead and set a big personal best like that and compete as well as (Ahbe) did should give her a ton of confidence going into the middle to later part of this season,” Associate Head Coach Jeff Huntoon said.

Ahbe and sophomores Sophie Gutermuth and Sydney Clute swept the women’s pole vault competition, finishing first, second and third, respectively.

The fifth and sixth-best vaults in the NCAA now belong to Ahbe and Gutermuth at 4.32 and 4.30 meters — a mark that Gutermuth set two weeks ago at the Texas Relays.

Another Hoosier trio followed suit, sweeping the men’s 1500-meter run.

Junior Rorey Hunter led the way with a winning time of three minutes and 47.93 seconds.

“Rorey has got it dialed in right now,” Huntoon said. “He’s got a great presence about him. I mentioned to some of the younger kids that I hope they’re taking advantage of a teammate who’s showing how to really do it.”

Sophomore Cornelius Strickland set another meet record by winning the 100-meter dash in 10.44 seconds.

Fellow sophomore Matt Birk also set a meet record, along with the fourth-best mark in program history, launching the spear 62.13 meters (203 feet, 10 inches) in the men’s javelin throw.

Sophomores Sarah Maxson and Drew Volz set a pair of season-bests with leaps of 1.76 meters in the women’s high jump and 5.21 meters in the men’s pole vault — both winning marks.

Two IU athletes took top prize in the men’s and women’s 3000-meter steeple chase competitions.

Freshman Jason Christ won the men’s race in nine minutes and 9.08 seconds, with sophomore Brianna Johnson championing the women’s race in 10 minutes and 42.16 seconds.

Last, but not least, junior Richard Rouse was awarded top honors in the men’s triple jump, soaring 6 meters, while junior Samantha Ginther won the women’s 1500 meter in four minutes and 33.26 seconds.

Once again, senior Kyla Buckley did it all. Her winning streak could not be stopped.

After earning Big Ten Field Athlete of the Week honors last week, Buckley pinned yet another blue ribbon to her résumé with a toss of 15.95 meters in the women’s shot put.

The Hoosiers and Boilermakers came away with two wins, 125-72 in the men’s and 114-85 in the women’s competition.

“Every year it’s a different meet for us, and so we wonder why go down there before we leave,” Huntoon said. “And every year, we drive home saying, ‘That was a great meet. We’ve got to make sure we go back next year.’”