The IU men’s track and field team had a successful outing that included a win in the decathlon this weekend when the Hoosiers competed in the Tennessee Relays.
The first day of the three-day invitational was headlined by junior Andrew Huber, who completed the first five events of the decathlon.
After setting a personal record in the 100-meter dash, Huber was also able to do well in the long jump, shot put, high jump and 400-meter dash. He finished the day in second place and only 11 points behind the leader.
Huber took the lead early Friday. He was able to create space at the top due to his performances in the 110-meter hurdles, discus, pole vault and javelin, which gave him a massive lead heading into the final event.
Huber finished his day with the 1,500-meter run to seal his victory in the decathlon. He finished with a final score of 6,870 points. IU Coach Ron Helmer said he saw plenty of good signs from his multi-event specialist.
“I felt like he did a good job of putting everything out of his mind and competing hard,” Helmer said. “This starts to put him at a place to compete for points. He certainly took a huge step forward and at the end of the day was able to put up a score that he can be proud of.”
Helmer said he was impressed with the improvement he saw by Huber and many other athletes on the team.
“I would say we got quite a bit done this weekend," Helmer said. “This time of the year, improving is sort of the focus. It’s nice to win a few things, it’s nice to be competitive, but ultimately we must get the work done that we need to in order to continue to get better as the year goes on.”
Sophomore Willie Morrison broke the IU record in the outdoor shot put event. With a throw of 19.48 meters, he broke a record that was originally broken in 1996. Morrison now has both the indoor and outdoor shot put records for IU.
Helmer explained that the competition level in Morrison's event was so high that a big throw wouldn’t win him the event like it normally would. He also said it was important that Morrison’s big throw came in a situation where he was behind and only had one throw left.
“I thought it was a great growth opportunity that he took advantage of,” Helmer said. “When people can do that, it shows they are developing in maturity and that they understand what it takes to be at your best regardless of the situation.”
Another Hoosier that drew attention this weekend was freshman William Session, who won his first career outdoor event by taking gold in the 110-meter hurdles. His blazing time of 14.17 seconds won him the event and the pleasant approval of his coach.
“William is very good,” Helmer said. “He was a state champion back in Illinois and is really competitive. He showed us that by getting a PR, making the finals and scoring us points at the indoor championships. He has a good amount of room for improvement and will continue to get better.”
In the 400-meter hurdles, junior Zach Reitzug crossed the finish line in fifth while sophomore Markevious Roach took ninth place in the 400-meter dash. Freshmen Kyle Mau and Cooper Williams finished fifth and sixth in the 800-meter run. Juniors Joe Murphy and Kyle Burks also had a good day. Murphy took fifth in the 1500-meter run, and Burks finished third in the 3000-meter steeplechase.
Day three mostly consisted of relays, but IU made some noise in the Saturday field events as well. Sophomores Treyton Harris and Eric Bethea both walked away with a second-place finish in their events, with Harris posting a clearance of 2.07 meters in the high jump and Bethea jumping 15.66 meters in the triple jump.
Harris cleared the bar set at 2.07 meters to give him second in the high jump. Bethea got the job done in the triple jump competition with a leap of 15.66 meters. Helmer said his jumpers are still young but are developing a better mentality as they are maturing.
“They need to be able to go into a variety of situations and find ways to hit the big one no matter what kind of day they are having,” Helmer said “If you are having a so-so day, just keep jumping, competing and trusting that the big one always just one jump away.”
Saturday was all about the relays, and IU ran in every one of them. Helmer said he wasn’t worried about strengthening any one race but instead focused on putting the team in different situations and giving them new opportunities.
The Hoosiers' finish was second in the sprint medley relay. IU finished third in the distance medley relay, fifth in the 4x800-meter relay and seventh in the 4x100-meter relay.
“I certainly wasn’t disappointed that we didn’t win one,” Helmer said. “We could have probably set them up differently and ran a few guys more than once, but what I wanted to do was bring everyone back who ran on Friday and give them a chance to compete on Saturday.”
