The Hoosiers will return home Friday to compete in the Gladstein Invitational after finding success in multiple events this past weekend. The invitational will begin at 2:30 p.m. and continue at 9:45 a.m. Saturday.
Fellow in-state schools such as Ball State University, Butler University, Taylor University and the University of Southern Indiana will travel to Bloomington to compete along with out-of-state schools such as Northwood University, Grand Valley State University and Miami University at Ohio.
Along with collegiate competition, the meet’s participants will include sponsored professionals Lauren Johnson of Adidas and Andy Bayer of Nike.
Bayer is a familiar face for the Hoosiers, having been with the program before signing with Nike in 2013. Bayer holds the school record for the men’s 3000-meter with a time of 7:48.35, which he ran during the Gladstein Invitational in 2011. Bayer will compete in the 3000-meter in this year’s Gladstein Invitational.
Senior Olivia Bechtel of Miami University holds the indoor school record for the women’s 400-meter with a time of 54.42 seconds set last season at the University of Notre Dame’s Meyo Invitational.
Bechtel is the first seed for the women’s 200-meter and will compete against IU senior Megan Grabowski. Grabowski’s personal best for the 200-meter is 24.25 seconds while Bechtel’s stands at 23.88.
The team left Nashville, Tennessee, on Jan. 17-18 with first-place finishes from multiple athletes in the Vanderbilt Invitational, including senior Adam Coulon, junior Cooper Williams and sophomore Jenna Barker.
Williams made his season debut for the Hoosiers in the 800-meter with a time of 1:47.84, which made him the national leader for the event.
Senior Khayla Dawson continued her impressive start to the season by leading all collegiate participants at the meet in the women’s shot put with a distance of 17.47 meters.
Williams and Dawson were named Big Ten Track and Field athletes of the week for their efforts in Nashville. Dawson earned the award for the second consecutive week.
Williams will be competing in Bloomington this weekend, but Dawson will not.
