IU Track and Field Coach Ron Helmer knew that the key to the men’s victory, 80-55, and the women’s loss, 72-64, against No. 14 Purdue was winning the evenly matched events.
"In basketball they say that teams need to win the 50-50 balls,” Helmer said. “Well, for us, we need to win the 50-50 events, where neither team has those dominant athletes.”
For the men, those events were the sprints and for the women, the field events.
It started out quickly for the men, as junior Cornelius Strickland stood victorious after the first track event, the 60-meter dash. He ran the event in 6.89 seconds, and Daniel DeBoni took third place in 7.05 seconds, totaling earning six of IU’s 80 points.
Strickland also took first place in the 200-meter dash in 21.49 seconds, the lone Hoosier who scored in the event. Rounding out the sprints for the men, sophomore Adrian Mable won the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.32, and senior Derrick Morgan claimed third in the 400-meter dash in 48.85 in his final IU-Purdue Dual meet.
“This performance is expected from Cornelius,” Helmer said. “He ran two solid, college runs, and we need that. We need that type of leadership.”
Other highlights for the men include sophomore Tre’tez Kinnaird, who finished first in the 600-meter dash, an event in which he already owns the school record of 1 minute and 18 seconds. Senior JR Ricker, who Helmer said was not expected to win the 3K, won the event with two fellow Hoosiers behind him in a sweep.
The men swept the high jump, the 800-meter run and the 3K. They also placed two athletes in the top three of four events.
“On the men’s side, the long jump, high jump and pole vault really stepped up,” Helmer said. “But on the women’s side, they didn’t perform as well in those 50-50 events, like the 400, long jump and shot put. It showed on the scoreboard.”
But the victories for the women were not to be overlooked, as junior Sophie Gutermuth cleared 4.16 meters to win the pole vault for the second consecutive year, sophomore Kellie Davis led the sweep of the 800-meter run with a time of two minutes and 11 seconds and sophomore Nakel McClinton claimed first placed in the weight throw. McClinton tossed the seventh-best throw in school history with 18.74 meters.
The meet climaxed with the women’s 3200-meter relay, which took place when the score was nearly knotted at 64-62. A win would gain five points for the team and ensure a victory.
The relay team of freshman Brenna Calder and sophomores Bethany Neeley, Kellie Davis and Brittany Neeley ran side-by-side with the Boilermakers’ relay team, and Brittany Neeley reached the finish line with Purdue’s Schmelzle Hope. Neeley lost by one-thousandth of a second on a photo-finish dive from both racers.
“I’ve heard Gladstein get loud, and I’ve seen some big crowds here,” Helmer said. “But I’ve never seen this place shake because of a women’s 4-by-8. It was fantastic, considering Brenna had just run the mile and turned right around to lead the relay team.”
In the six-year series with Purdue, the men improved to 5-1 with the upset victory, and the women fell to 4-2 after losing its second in a row.
“I think this meet showed that we are not as good as we can get,” Helmer said. “We have a lot of growing to do, but that’s what the long season is for, growing as a team.”
