Indiana men’s track and field competed in North Carolina State University’s Raleigh Relays over the weekend, the first meet of the team’s outdoor portion of the spring season.
The three-day meet began Thursday with long-distance races of the 1500-meter race and the 5000-meter race, and multiple Hoosiers made their outdoor track debuts.
Freshman Camden Marshall, competing in his first 1500-meter race, finished ninth in his section with a time of 3:50.23. Senior Dustin Horter recorded the fastest time in the event for Indiana, crossing the line with a fifth-place time of 3:48.07.
Graduate student and All-American Ben Veatch led the Hoosiers in the 5000-meter race, recording a time of 13:43.59, the fifth-fastest among the 10 sections. Additionally, redshirt sophomore Austin Haskett won his section with a time of 14:15.10, beating his previous personal best by almost 10 seconds.
The Hoosiers kicked Friday’s events off with two different sections of the pole vault. In the first section, freshman Tyler Carrel placed third with a height of 4.72 meters. In the invitational portion, junior Ryan Lipe and graduate student Adam Coulon took second and third, clearing heights of 5.31 meters and 5.11 meters, respectively.
Related: [Indiana women’s track and field starts outdoor season strong at Raleigh Relays]
In the 400-meter race, graduate student Kenny Benton set a personal best with a second-place time of 46.50 seconds. The Hoosiers continued to place well throughout the duration of the event, as redshirt sophomore Parker Raymond and senior Shaton Vaughn each placed third in their respective sections.
Junior sprinter Antonio Laidler began an impressive two-day stretch with his 100-meter dash performance on Friday, placing second in his section with a personal best time of 10.50 seconds. He then carried that momentum into Saturday’s 200-meter race, winning the overall event with another personal best time of 21.05 seconds.
Laidler, a former NCAA Division II All-American at Quincy University, expressed how much the weekend meant to him.
“I was dealing with a lot of injuries, and I really didn’t think I was gonna be back in time,” Laidler said. “It means a lot to me. Everything played out well, and I just need to improve each day and stay focused.”
Marshall capped off a strong outdoor debut with his 800-meter race performance on Saturday, placing in third overall among the 15 sections with a time of 1:51.13. Ending off the day, the 4 x 400-meter team of Vaughn, Raymond, Benton and junior Micah Camble placed fourth with a time of 3:14.38.
Next week, the Hoosiers continue a long stretch of travel meets at the Florida Relays in Gainesville, Florida, on April 1-2.
