Indiana men’s track and field competed in four individual events and one relay at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships in Birmingham, Alabama, over the weekend.
Redshirt senior Rikkoi Brathwaite kicked off competition Friday in the 60-meter dash preliminary round. His time of 6.56 seconds was third overall among the two heats and enough to earn a bid into Saturday’s final.
Later that night, the quartet of freshman Camden Marshall, graduate student Kenny Benton, redshirt sophomore Parker Raymond and graduate student Ben Veatch competed in the 4000-meter distance medley relay finals. They placed 10th with a time of 9:33.27.
Head coach Ron Helmer said the performance was not on par with the potential of the group and said he expected more from them.
“I absolutely was expecting more in this particular meet,” Helmer said. “You gotta get through the first carry or so to hook onto that front patch to give your anchor a chance to be running with the right people and we just didn’t do that.”
On Saturday, Brathwaite, a favorite to earn a medal in the 60-meter dash, lived up to expectations. Among a group of the eight fastest sprinters in the country, Brathwaite finished second with a time of 6.52 seconds, setting a personal, school and Big Ten record.
Brathwaite was rewarded with first-team All-American honors for his performance, but what made the moment truly special was setting the all-time 60-meter dash record for his home country, the British Virgin Islands.
“It means a lot to me, not only me but to the Big Ten as well and especially my country, British Virgin Islands,” Brathwaite said. “Being able to set a new national record for my country was also a special moment so it means almost too much to me.”
Helmer emphasized the growth Brathwaite has shown over his collegiate career and the contributions he has made to Indiana’s program.
“He’s an emotional kid who had to just learn how to manage and challenge his emotions positively,” Helmer said. “He’s matured a lot, he’s grown a lot, and he’s learned to handle these high-level situations really well.”
Veatch rounded out the meet for the Hoosiers with the 3000-meter race. He placed 16th with a time of 8:16.23 and was named a second-team All-American.
Helmer said Veatch’s performance was not what was expected of a distance runner of his caliber, but he was tripped during the race.
“He had the ability and he was on his way to running a really good 3k,” Helmer said. “Unfortunately he gets tripped up and goes down so we know he’ll be a player at the highest level, the next time around.”
With the indoor season in the books, Indiana will now begin transitioning into outdoor competition. The team will first travel to Raleigh, North Carolina, for the Raleigh Relays on March 25-26 to kick off the season.
