IU track and field had its biggest, most complete performance of the season at the Gladstein Invitational, the Hoosiers’ biggest meet so far this season.
The men’s team continued its high level of performance, while the women’s team finally took a much-needed step forward.
The most notable finishes of the weekend were from the heptathlon. Redshirt senior Dylan Anderson finished second with 5,616 points, the second-best heptathlon score in school history.
Behind him in third was senior Stephen Keller, who finished with the fourth-best score in school history.
Sophomores Chase Pacheco and Andrew Huber finished in fifth and sixth with the seventh- and eighth-best heptathlons in school history.
“The last couple years they’ve committed to doing it, they’ve committed to working,” IU Coach Ron Helmer said.
Those overall heptathlon marks came with many strong performances in its comprising events. Anderson won the pole vault, finished second in the shot put and finished third in the 60-meter dash and the long jump.
Keller ran away with the win in the 1,000-meter run in a race completely dominated by IU — Pacheco finished behind him. Keller also finished second in the pole vault.
“The 60-meter was pretty good, and then right afterward, we go into the long jump,” Anderson said. “And jumping over seven meters in long jump is a really big confidence boost. It’s kind of a number that I always aim for. After that point, I was like ‘OK, I’m ready to do the rest of this. Let’s go.’”
The meet spanned Friday and Saturday. The first day was highlighted by a performance from senior pole vaulter Sydney Clute.
Clute tied for the top spot in the women’s pole vault with IU alumna Sophie Gutermuth with a jump of 4.26 meters, a Gladstein Fieldhouse record.
Clute also set a new personal record, along with the second-best mark in school history, the top mark in the Big Ten and the seventh-best mark in the country.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Clute said. “It’s definitely been there (in practice), and just hadn’t happened yet (in meets), so I was definitely excited. I had the next bar, too, but just kind of came down on top of it. That was exciting to see, too, that it’s coming along, and I’m ready to jump even higher.”
Gutermuth wasn’t the only IU alumnus competing this weekend. Derek Drouin, who is now affiliated with Nike, competed in the heptathlon.
Drouin is the only athlete ahead of Anderson in the IU record book in the heptathlon.
This weekend, however, Drouin finished well behind Anderson in ninth place. But he did win the high jump, finishing second in the 60-meter hurdle and third in the 1,000-meter run.
Anderson said he was happy to be reunited with his former teammate, and said he sees Drouin as a role model and a good friend.
For the women’s team, junior Olivia Hippensteel finished third in the 800-meter run and won the one-mile run.
Sophomore Kendell Wiles won the 400-meter dash. Junior Michelle Adeniyi finished third in the penthathlon, a performance that saw her win the shot put.
Sophomore Brittany Thomas placed third in the 60-meter dash in 7.63 seconds, the ninth-best time in school history. She also took third in the 200-meter dash.
Helmer said he enjoyed watching some of the women on the team begin to take more risks.
“Any place we saw improvement, it makes me happy,” Helmer said. “I think they’re getting over the worry and the anxiety of ‘am I ready?’ and finding out that if you just go compete and trust your training, you’re going to find that you’re really fit, and good things are going to happen.”
Meanwhile, the men’s team continued their solid run. Senior Cornelius Strickland won the 200-meter dash in 21.49 seconds, the 10th-best time in school history.
He also finished first among collegiate runners in the 60-meter dash.
Freshman Adam Wallace won the 800-meter run by 1/100th of a second. Junior Adrian Mable finished third in the 60-meter hurdles in 8.07 seconds, good for fifth in school history. Junior Marco Burkert finished second in the 400-meter dash.
The Hoosiers’ relay squads capped the weekend with three solid performances at the end of the meet. In the men’s and women’s 4x800 meter relay, IU’s A-teams took the top spots. In the women’s 4x400 meter, IU’s A-team finished in second, despite a comeback at the end of the race.
“In the women’s 4x400m particularly, I thought all four of them ran well,” Helmer said.
“But particularly Sydney Anderson on the third carry and Kendell Wiles at the end. Both of them are on their third race of the weekend, and they both split faster than they’ve ever split.”
