Track and field athletes qualify

Junior distance runner Rorey Hunter was in sixth place with 20 meters remaining in the 1,500-meter race.

Hunter was competing in Jacksonville, Fla., in hopes of making it to the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship.

The top five finishers would qualify for the NCAA Championships.

Hunter won his heat with a time of 3 minutes, 45.85 seconds, in a heat in which the top six runners were separated by two tenths of a second.

“Somehow he kept his cool and composure and made a nice move right at the end to slide through a couple guys and get through some traffic and find his way to the front,” IU Coach Ron Helmer said. “That doesn’t happen unless you maintain your composure.”

Hunter was a member of the Indiana distance medley relay team that finished third and earned All-America honors earlier this season at the NCAA Indoor Championships.

Hunter also won the 1,500 meters at the Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

Freshman Matt Schwartzer qualified in the 5,000 meters, and he claimed the fourth automatic qualification spot in his heat with a time of 14 minutes, 11.63 seconds.

“I think he’s the first freshman I’ve had that has qualified for the national meet in a distance race,” Helmer said. “That’s a very difficult thing to do because typically in the longer distances, it takes time to put the work in place, and it’s usually several years before you can compete at that level.”

The first Hoosiers who qualified this weekend were a pair of pole vaulters.
Senior Kelsie Ahbe and sophomore Sydney Clute both cleared a meet best of 4.20 meters Friday afternoon. It was a career best jump for Clute.

“Those girls work together really well,” Helmer said. “When you have high-level athletes and in one event, one of the things that happen is they learn to work together, and when they work together they respond to one another’s successes.”

It will be Ahbe’s third appearance in the NCAA Championships.

Three more Hoosiers qualified on Saturday, which was the final day of the competition.

Among them was senior shot putter Kyla Buckley, who threw herself into her fourth straight NCAA Championships.

That kind of sustained success only occurs if a number of things are present in an athlete, Helmer said.

“Number one, you have to be talented enough to be able to perform at this level, and that’s just the beginning point,” Helmer said. “You have to be willing to work, and then you have to love to compete.”

Buckley qualified with a mark of 16.98 meters, which was fourth best of the meet.

Buckley finished ninth at the NCAA Indoor Championships earlier this year, in addition to winning the Big Ten titles in both the indoor and outdoor seasons.

Helmer said he believes Buckley has the potential to compete for a national title.

“I think she’s got that kind of a throw in her,” Helmer said. “Again, that’s a tall order. That’s a new challenge, but we’ve seen her throw at that level, so the challenge for her is to throw at that level in what becomes a pretty high pressure situation.”

The NCAA Championships will take place at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., where late distance runner Steve Prefontaine excelled many years ago. It is otherwise known as Track Town, USA.

Helmer said he is not encapsulated by the mythology of Hayward Field, and this event will be meaningful solely because it is the NCAA Championships.

“In my mind this whole Oregon thing is overhyped and not as cool as everybody makes it out to be,” Helmer said. “It’s an NCAA meet, and for that reason it’s special for all these kids.”