Following a week in which IU sent a small number of athletes to two meets, the Hoosiers will have a more representative, complete team this weekend. IU will have around 60 athletes competing at the Tiger Track Classic at Auburn on Friday and Saturday.
Most of the team didn’t compete at the Texas Relays or the Stanford Invitational last weekend, and the majority who did compete will sit out this weekend. Distance runners junior Jeremy Coughler, senior Owen Skeete and freshman Haley Harris and senior pole vaulters Sophie Gutermuth and Sydney Clute are the only Hoosiers competing at Auburn who competed last weekend.
Harris and Skeete set new personal records at the Stanford Invitational. Meanwhile, Gutermuth and Clute both struggled at the Texas Relays. Both athletes failed to clear a height. Clute said the wind caused issues for them and they were waiting around longer than anticipated because some equipment broke in the section before them and needed to be replaced.
“The big thing from the day was trying to learn something to apply going forward so that we could both take something away to improve in the coming weeks,” Clute said. “We know that everyone has bad days, and ours just happened to be on the same day.”
Clute said her goal for a bounceback performance is to set a new personal best, and a disappointing meet like Texas doesn’t change that.
Sophomore high jumper Paul Galas won the high jump two weeks ago at the Pac 12 vs. Big Ten Invitational, and he didn’t compete last weekend. He thinks his approach toward training will help him keep momentum going through the off week.
“I think you have to train hard every week, regardless if there’s a competition or no competition,” Galas said.
IU Coach Ron Helmer said the rainy weather this week has been a challenge for practices and workouts. He said some of the athletes got their work done before it started raining, but many had to work indoors, which isn’t ideal for outdoor track. Still, he said he thought the team had a good week of practice.
This will be the first time the Hoosiers compete at the Tiger Track Classic. Helmer said it’s nice to travel south for better weather this time of year and they’ll see better weather than Bloomington will this weekend. He also said the competition they’re facing should be good.
“There’s really good people at the top end, and then it falls way off,” Helmer said. “But I think everyone’s going to have a chance to be in a heat or a flight that gives them a chance to do what they’re prepared to do.”
Galas said he likes where the team is right now. He sees the work everyone has put in at training and has watched it pay off in meets.
“We’re going through tough training, and I think we’re still putting up numbers,” Galas said. “The distance team especially, they had a really good weekend at Stanford last weekend. A bunch of PRs everywhere. I think if the rest of the team can follow their performance, I think we’ll be in a really good place.”
Helmer said he mainly wants to see his team continue to improve. He mentioned the solid performances he saw two weeks ago at Arizona State and last week at Stanford and said he wants to see more of those types of performances.
“What I’m looking for is just more people stepping up and putting some really solid marks on the board, and continuing to gain momentum as a group so that we can turn that into the next one and the next one and the next one,” Helmer said. “That’s what it’s going to take for us to get to where we want to be.”
