IU competed in its final home meet of the 2016-17 season this weekend. The Hoosiers showed up for the Hoosier Hills invitational and won 18 events between the men’s and women’s teams.
The women’s team had top performances on the track and in the field as well.
Coming off an injury earlier in the season, senior Nakel McClinton was able to take the win in the weight throw by clearing 18.94 meters. Shortly thereafter, teammate sophomore Nycia Ford won the shot put with a throw of 15.38 meters (50-5.5) and placed third in the weight throw. IU Coach Ron Helmer mentioned Ford as one of the best performances at the invitational.
“I think Nycia Ford, who won the shot put, had a really nice victory with that and was able to improve her personal record,” Helmer said. “She had a really good weekend overall.”
Freshman Gracie Heeb finished as runner-up in the 60m hurdle finals. Heeb set a career-best mark of 8.79 in the finals.
Also on the track, the Hoosiers swept the 3,000m run. Haley Harris led the race followed by freshman Katherine Free and then senior Chanli Mundy.
In the mile, another long-distance race, all three IU runners finished under the five-minute mark. Junior Corinne Cominator won the race with a time of 4:51.92.
In the sprinting events, junior Brittany Thomas was able to place first in two separate events, the 60-meter dash and 200-meter dash. Sophomore Maya Caudle was the 200-meter dash runner-up.
This upcoming weekend, IU will only send a small group of runners to South Bend, Indiana, for the Alex Wilson Invitational at Notre Dame. Helmer said many athletes aren’t traveling this weekend in order to prepare for the Big Ten championship.
“We are definitely trying to rest the athletes going into the Big Ten meet and make sure they don’t get hurt,” Helmer said.
Coming up on the meet, Helmer said the team will stay consistent in practice and he is just expecting the athletes to give their best effort in both training and the important meets coming up.
“We aren’t making any big changes in the training cycle, we are just going to the athletes practice as hard as they can with what’s coming up,” Helmer said. “Us as coaches are just trying to stay on top of them so they can perform the best they can in the Big Ten championship and in the weeks to come.”
