IU men’s track and field found success at four different meets this weekend, including a home meet in Bloomington and meets at Iowa State University and the University of Arkansas.
“We’re all preparing for the Big Ten Championships in a couple weeks, and I believe this weekend helped get us different competition in order to prepare,” senior Adam Coulon said.
Friday night at Hoosier Hills, senior Willie Morrison took first place in the shot put after last week’s record-breaking performance on Feb. 8 at the Meyo Invitational. The Big Ten Track and Field Athlete of the week won with a throw of 20.21 meters.
For the IU distance team, senior Kyle Mau took second in the 3,000-meter race with a time of 7:50.22. Junior Ben Veatch wasn’t far behind him, placing third in the event with a time of 7:53.75.
Sophomore Rikkoi Brathwaite ran the event for the first time and placed sixth for the Hoosiers with a time of 50.45 in the 400-meter. IU junior Isaiah Ware took second with a time of 49.48.
In the high jump, the Hoosiers took two of the top three positions. Freshman Grayson Rolen finished second with a mark of 2.00 meters and junior Matt McCown took third with a mark of 1.95 meters.
Senior Bryce Millar was the lone Hoosier to compete on the first day of the Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa. On Friday he ran the 5,000-meter in 14:12.49 to take eighth in the event. Senior Adam Wallace ran the 800-meter in 1:51.10 and placed 13th on Saturday.
At the Tyson Invite at Arkansas, Coulon took second in pole vault and set a personal best mark with a height of 5.65 meters. Freshman Nathan Stone hit a mark of 5.30 meters.
Junior Jyles Etienne placed sixth in the high jump with a height of 2.11 meters.
IU head coach Ron Helmer also took sophomores Arjun Jha and Matthew Schadler to the David Hemery Valentine Invite in Boston to compete in the mile. Schadler improved his personal best in the event with a time of 3:58.45 to finish third overall. Jha ran the race in 4:03.04 and placed 23rd.
“It was definitely different not having the whole team there because we are so close,” Coulon said.
