The IU men’s track and field team continued its hot streak this weekend by winning the Louisville Invitational with 156.5 points.
Most of the action occurred Saturday, but junior Andrew Miller competed in the hammer throw Friday night. Miller’s consistent season continued, and he finished second in his event.
IU Coach Ron Helmer said he was happy with the effort he got from his team during the weekend.
“We are a fairly complete track and field team,” Helmer said. “I think we ran in almost every event, which is something most teams haven’t figured out to do.”
The Hoosiers had many athletes set personal best marks. Sophomore Willie Morrison had a big personal record with a mark of 53.84 meters on his final throw in the discus for his first win of the season in the event.
Morrison also took first place in the shot put with a throw of 19.15 meters. Fellow sophomore David Schall had a throw good enough to earn him a third-place finish.
“Willie is one of our athletes who was recruited out of high school to do multiple events,” Helmer said. “I think the team as whole is getting better because of his ability to come along in a second event.”
Sophomore Adam Wallace has had good results in his recent performances, and that continued during the weekend. He took third in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:53.79.
In the 1,500-meter run, junior Joe Murphy narrowly edged out freshman teammate Kyle Mau to finish in second place. Murphy’s time of 3:45.45 was less than half a second faster than Mau's, who ended up in third.
“There are some names that we do not typically talk about that are starting to step up,” Helmer said. “Adam Wallace for a second week in a row now, has done a good job in his events. For a lot of our guys, we know it’s coming. We just don’t know when.”
The Hoosiers were productive in the sprinting events Saturday. Sophomore Tyler Bellaire and freshman William Session both finished top three in their events while running personal-best times.
Sophomore Markevious Roach finished fifth in the 200-meter and third in the 400-meter dash. He also helped the 4x100-meter relay team take second place. The team of freshman Dushawn Tunstall, sophomore Treyton Harris, Bellaire and Roach ran a time of 41.01 seconds.
Helmer said the good results were mostly due to the high winds.
“It helps you a lot for those events when you have that kind of wind at your back,” Helmer said. “The wind definitely helped them, but I really do think those kids are getting better.”
The field athletes were fairly successful for IU as well.
In his first career outdoor meet, freshman Adam Coulon finished fourth in the pole vault competition. Sophomore Drew Ludwig was the first Hoosier in action Saturday when he took third in the javelin throw.
Junior Paul Galas went to a jump-off to win first place in the high jump. Sophomore Eric Bethea set a new personal record in the long jump. His jump of 7.42 meters was good enough to give him third place.
Helmer was happy to see the good results, but said he was really glad to see the team developing.
“I think in a few places we are getting better,” Helmer said. “These are the signs we want to see. Hopefully we got better over the weekend.”
IU will be in action again this weekend and will travel north to face off against rival Purdue. Helmer said this meet should be a little bit more laid back as the Hoosiers prepare for the Penn Relays in two weeks.
