The invitational will serve as the Hoosiers’ only home meet in the outdoor season, after having traveled to their past eight meets, taking them as far as Palo Alto, Calif., for the Stanford Invitational.
“The kids typically get excited for home meets,” IU Coach Ron Helmer said. “Good weather, good facility, being at home. It’ll help the athletes prepare for their exams next week too.”
After national-level meets last weekend at Penn Relays and Drake Relays, the Hoosiers return to qualifying for the NCAA East Regional.
With 38 athletes placed in the top 60 in the NCAA East Region, IU has just two opportunities left, including the Billy Hayes Invitational, to place athletes in the top 48 and send them to nationals May 28.
“There are strong enough fields and strong enough competition for the athletes to benefit from the meet,” Helmer said.
One athlete in need of benefit is freshman distance runner Jill Whitman, who now sits at 55th in the region for the women’s 5K, just seven spots out of national qualification.
Although she sits near the qualification mark, Whitman will be running the 1,500-meter run.
“I’m not a 1,500 runner,” Whitman said. “But coach wants me to get some speed work in so that I can finish out the races like the 5K. I’m just going to go out there, try to hold on and try to run a personal record.”
Whitman had a stellar freshman indoor season in which she finished fifth in the 3K and sixth in the 5K at the Big Ten Championships and won the women’s mile at the Hoosier Hills Invitational.
Whitman has struggled throughout the outdoor season, though, failing to finish better than 10th place in any event, including 10th- and 16th-place finishes in the 1,500-meter run.
“I just came in and did what I was told to do,” Whitman said of her freshman season. “I just do my best day in and day out. I don’t feel like I ever needed to make a name for myself.”
Earl “Billy” Hayes, the man the invitational is named after, coached IU cross-country and track and field from 1924 to 1943.
Throughout his coaching career at IU, Hayes coached four world record holders and seven Olympians, including IU Track and Field icon Don Lash.
Extending from the track and field program, Hayes coached IU football from 1931 to 1933 and served as an assistant coach for the U.S. Olympic National Team in 1936.
The Hoosiers, however, are more concerned about setting qualifying times than placing high in their events.
“We’ve got some people doing some pretty good things compared to other people,” Helmer said. “But in the big picture we are still mediocre in many areas of the team. We’ll determine our success on points in Big Tens, not places and times at Billy Hayes.”
