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(07/25/02 8:23pm)
The nationally ranked men's cross country team heads into its first meet tonight in one of the few home meets for the Hoosiers this season. \nThe Indiana Open features Eastern Illinois, IU-Purdue University at Indianapolis, IU-Purdue University at Fort Wayne, Ball State and Miami of Ohio. While the opponents aren't ranked along with IU, the Hoosiers said they have several goals to accomplish at this meet.\nThe first being to gain experience for the younger runners. This allows them to get the feel of a college cross country meet so they are not as nervous later in the season, members said. \n"This is a great experience for the young guys," senior Kevin Chandler said. "For some of them, it is the first time they get to wear an Indiana jersey." \nThis meet can be invaluable later because it allows young runners to build confidence in their abilities, members said. \n"The meet helps the young guys adjust to the longer distances run in college and allows us to see what some of the young guys can do," senior Doug Paley said. \nThis meet can also be used to evaluate what kind of shape the runners are in. Some Hoosiers said they feel it is important to see what kind of results the Hoosier's training has been able to accomplish. \n"This is one of the deepest teams in the Big Ten," coach Robert Chapman said. \nThis will be the first chance to look at the depth in a meet situation. It will be an opportunity for someone to step up to fill first-team, All-Big Ten Aaron Gillen's shoes.\n"At this point, I do not know who is going to step up, but there are several guys who could," Chapman said.\nAlthough not every team member will be running, this meet marks the beginning of the season, and gets the team into the season mode. Chandler and the team have had a long summer of training, and now is the time to put that training to use.\n"The guys are ready to get this season started after all the hard work put in at practice," Chandler said.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
Junior Chad Andrews knows there's always room for improvement.\nAndrews and the men's cross country team are competing for the Big Ten Championships title this year. \nLast season, Andrews finished 11th in the Big Ten cross country championships and third in the 10,000 meters in the Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championships. He looks to be a major factor in IU's hopes this season because of last year's success.\nDuring his freshman year, he finished 34th in the Big Ten Championships. Last season's improvement happened for several reasons. His body is now able to handle the mileage run better at the collegiate level, head coach Robert Chapman said. \n"With Chad, he has the confidence to know that when he's fit, he's going to run well. If he's not fit, he laces up his shoes every day and keeps cranking until he gets there," Chapman said. \nWhen he started his collegiate career, his mileage was 50 to 60 miles a week. Now, Andrews has increased it to an average of 90 a week. \nHe is not the only one putting in this many miles, Andrew said.\n"Having great training groups helps out," he said. "The training groups are all out working hard."\nThis team's depth allows for practices where athletes are working hard and pushing each other to do better. Last season's success by Andrews increased his confidence as well, he said. \n"Training hard and stuff is going to boost the confidence but finishing high in a big meet is going to do more," Andrews said. \nThe hard work hasn't gone unnoticed.\n"In a big meet, you can count on him," freshman Kurtis George said. George knows Andrews well. They are cousins and grew up only a few miles apart. George competed against his cousin almost every week in high school. Now, they compete together in an attempt to win the Big Ten Championships. \n"Chad also has a great ability to roll in big meets. He's been able to find a way to peak at the right time, which is so crucial in our sport," Chapman said.\n"(Chad is) pretty quiet, but he leads by example," George said. \nAndrews' leadership will focus more on the team, rather than individual runners. The Hoosiers will focus on the opponent's top runners on a team-by-team basis, athletes said. \nBesides the hard work Andrews puts in at practice every week, he continues to do well in school. He is a secondary education/social studies major. He said when he graduates, he wants to find a job teaching high school students some type of social studies. \nHe said he also looks forward to coaching cross country and track. Andrews said there are some parallels between school and cross country. \n"Dedication and working hard will help you get what you want," Andrews said.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
The IU men's track and field team put together a dominating performance across the board and handed Michigan a lopsided 100-59 loss Saturday. The meet, held at the Gladstein fieldhouse, was the first of the season for IU. The Hoosiers produced many strong performances.\nIU won 11 of the 15 events and finished second in seven of those victories. \n"We were pleased with about 90 percent of the performances today, and any time you can go over 75 or 80, that's great," IU coach Marshall Goss said. "We started to look like a track team today." \nThree athletes qualified for NCAA provisional to go along with the victory. Junior Chris Powers was one of the athletes to qualify. His time of 8:10 in the 3000 meters was under the qualifying time by two seconds. His performance was also a 12-second improvement over his personal best in that event. \nHassan Reddick earned his NCAA provisional in the triple jump on his first attempt. The jump was not only a personal best but placed him fourth all-time on the school record books. Reddick was pleased with his performance.\n"The first jump and meet of the season are usually pretty bad, but I came out on my first jump and (stayed) in the 50's on the rest of my jumps, so I was very satisfied," he said. \nAll-American Dino Efthimiou earned his provisional in the pole vault. His clearance of 5.20 meters also put him among the top in the nation this year. Despite not qualifying for an NCAA provisional, several others had good meets.\nOne of those was sophomore Ryan Sarbinoff.\n"Ryan Sarbinoff had an absolutely outstanding 200-meter run," Reddick said. "The move he made in the second turn was unbelievable, and the way he brought us back in the 4x400 was phenomenal."\nSarbinoff won both the 200- (21.99) and 400 (48.83)-meter dashes and ran a leg on the 4x400 meter relay team, which also won.\n"I came nervous being the first meet and everything," Sarbinoff said. "I had high expectations, obviously, because of great fall training. (Our coaches) have done everything to get us ready for not only today but also for a few weeks from now when our training is actually supposed to pay off"
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
The IU women's track and field team opened the indoor season at home over the weekend. The Hoosiers treated the home fans to an exciting finish and victory by winning the final event: the 4x400-meter relay. The women's team used both experience and youth in an 81-80 victory over the visiting Michigan Wolverines.\nThe Hoosier sprinters put together a good meet and got help in several other events to step up and fill the gaps made by athletes who were unable to compete. \n"It's the first meet of the year, and I felt we, for the most part, performed better than last year at the same meet," head coach Randy Heisler said. "At the same time, we had so many holes to fill. Junior Rose Richmond, All-American and Big Ten champion, was warming up and then doesn't jump -- not the long jump or triple jump -- and doesn't run and you just give up those points."\nJuniors Rachelle Boone and Danielle Carruthers finished one-two in the 60-meter dash, with Boone running an NCAA provisional time. Boone and Freshman Ara Towns went one-two in the 200-meter dash. \nFreshman Charlene Maddox won the 400-meter dash, Carruthers ran an NCAA provisional time in the 60-meter hurdles on her way to victory and the sprinters stepped up at the end of the meet to pull out a victory in the 4x400 with a strong run by senior Tia Trent.\n"I am very satisfied with today," Boone said. "I wasn't even really thinking about getting (a provisional), I was just hoping to run a decent 60 and 200, so I am satisfied." \nMany freshmen stepped up in their first meet for the Hoosiers and gained some good experience. Towns finished second in the 200-meter dash, Maddox won the 400-meter dash and Mindy Peterson was victorious in the mile with a time of 5:01.\n"It was good to get out here and run against some good competition," Peterson said. "Michigan is a pretty good team."\nThose were not the only freshmen to give good performances. Christina Archibald won the high jump, Emily Tharpe placed first in the pole vault and Carolin Schopf finished second in the triple jump and fourth in the long jump.\n"I was really surprised by the freshmen," Carruthers said. "I am proud of the freshmen because they are really stepping up"
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
IU has one of the best triple jumpers in the Big Ten in Hassan Reddick. The junior finished second in both the indoor and outdoor Big Ten Championships and earned a provisional to the NCAA championship last season. This season, Reddick has improved but faces stiffer competition. Fellow teammate freshman Aarik Wilson could possibly be the toughest he finds. \n"This year the Big Ten is probably the best it has ever been in the triple jump, but these two should vie for the Big Ten championship," coach Marshall Goss said.\nWilson comes from Fallon, Nev., and came in with a personal best in the triple jump of 51-1 3/4 and a long jump best of 22-10 1/2. He already has improved on his long jump. Last weekend against Michigan, he finished first in the long jump with a leap of 23-6 and second in the triple jump with an effort of 51-0. Though Wilson is a freshman, he his confident in his abilities. \n"The only person I will accept losing too is my teammate," he said.\nReddick could make it tough for Wilson to beat him. On the season's first jump against Michigan, Reddick beat his personal best, going 52-3 1/4. The jump has him ranked first in the Big Ten and earned him an NCAA provisional, but he is not satisfied.\n"(Monday) I went to the coach's office and watched the tape of my jump, and the form was very poor," he said. "Once I put that part of the puzzle together, I will be able to qualify for the NCAAs no problem."\nLast indoor season, Reddick came down with mononucleosis and was unable to train for six weeks. He recovered two weeks prior to the Big Ten Indoor championships and was able to finish a surprising second. Before the outdoor championships, he hurt his leg and was not 100 percent but still managed a second-place finish. \n"I got motivated last year after getting second at the Big Ten Indoor after just getting over mono," he said.\nThis season, Reddick has been pushed everyday in practice from Wilson. \n"I think they are made for each other," assistant coach Wayne Pate said. "They are two of the most competitive people. They push each other, and when that happens, they cannot help but get better. It's fun coming to practice and watching them"
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
The IU men's track and field team was victorious this weekend. The Hoosiers defeated Big Ten foes Ohio State and Penn State at home Saturday. IU is 3-0 heading into a two-week lay-off. \nThe meet had good performances including three more NCAA provisional marks. \nSenior Dino Efthimiou improved on the provisional mark he gained last week as he cleared a height of 5.30 meters. Junior Hasaan Reddick was the second team member to earn a provisional mark this week in the triple jump. He finished first with a jump of 15.68 meters. \nHis teammate, freshman Aarik Wilson, also posted a provisional mark with a leap of 15.61 meters, earning him a second place finish. He rounded out the day with a fourth place finish in the long jump. He hit 7.12 meters.\nFreshman UnRico Lloyd was successful in the long jump. He placed second with a jump of 7.38 meters. Besides that finish, Lloyd captured both the 60- and 200-meter dashes. His times in those events were 6.87 seconds and 21.82 seconds, respectively. \nDespite success in the long jump, Lloyd was not satisfied with his other marks.\n"Time-wise I wasn't (pleased)," Lloyd said. "But winning was good."\nLloyd helped the sprinters dominate the competition. Lloyd and sophomore Contrell Ash combined for a 1-2 finish in the 60. Again, Lloyd took first in the 200, with sophomore Ryan Sarbinoff placing second. \nSarbinoff also took the victory in the 400, while teammate junior Juan Duarte finished fourth. Sophomore Micah Harvey and junior Matt Harris finished second and third, respectively, in the 60-meter hurdles to complete the sprinters' domination. \n"I think that a lot of the newcomers have put some points on the board," Ash said.\nSenior Wasyl Fedoriw agreed with Ash.\n"I feel like we have some guys that have matured and we are finally putting it together," Fedoriw said.\nFedoriw was also successful this weekend. His throw of 18.84 meters in the weight throw gave him a third place finish and also broke the school record. In addition, Fedoriw placed third in the shot put. \nWith a strong victory the team heads into the two-week lay-off on a good note. These two weeks are important building weeks for the remainder of the season.\n"We are going to lay the ground work for Big Ten's (during the next two weeks)," Fedoriw said.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
The Hoosiers look for some fun in the sun this weekend as the men's and women's track and field teams head to Arizona State University. Spring training is not the only thing happening in Arizona as the Sun Devils play host to the Baldy Castillo Invitational. This is the first outdoor meet of the season, and the warm weather will give IU the opportunity to do well.\nThe beginning of the outdoor track and field season traditionally features meets that are in the warmer states. These meets give the Hoosiers a chance to compete in ideal weather conditions, and compete against athletes and teams they do not regularly see during the rest of the season. \n"It is a little expensive (to go to Arizona State) but it is one of those types of things that brings a lot of athletes to the program because we do give them the opportunities," Coach Marshall Goss said. "A lot of guys are coming off a good taper coming back from spring break and the first meet or so usually (leads) to a good time."\nNot all athletes will compete this weekend. Some athletes need this time to catch up in their classes, and others have some nagging injuries. The athletes who do get a chance to go this weekend will be busy.\nOn the men's side, sophomores Contrell Ash and Ryan Sarbinoff will run in several events to help them get ready for the Big Ten season. Sophomore Daniel Martin will run the intermediate hurdles Friday and two 400-meter dashes Saturday. The two 110-meter hurdlers, Matt Harris and Micah Harvey, will make the trip too.\nIU men's team will not take many distance runners so those runners can focus on next weekend's meet in California. In the 800-meter dash, juniors Joel Cotton and Ryan Huber will run. The men's team is also bringing guys to run in the steeplechase because of the quality field. The field events will be represented well with athletes in every event except the pole vault.\n"We have a lot of good competition (at this meet), but the meets we are concerned about do not start until May," senior Wasyl Fedoriw said.\nThis competition includes in-state rival Notre Dame and Big Ten foe Minnesota. Other teams that will compete this weekend are Dartmouth, Idaho, Northern Arizona, Washington State, UC-Santa Barbara and Utah State.\n"We are excited because we have a chance for a successful season," sophomore Kurtis George said.
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
The men's and women's track and field teams headed to the University of Texas to participate in the 75th annual Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays over the weekend. The meet featured some of the best talent in the country, and the Hoosiers proved they can compete at this level.\nJuniors Rachelle Boone and Danielle Carruthers led the way for the women's team. Boone took third in the 100-meter dash while running her best time of the season at 11.53. Carruthers took fourth in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 13.13. Both of these times were NCAA provisional marks. Freshman Emily Tharpe also earned a provisional mark in the pole vault and finished third place, with a height of 3.80 meters.\nAlso doing well this weekend was junior Irina Kharun, who finished third overall in the javelin and had a provisional mark. In the high jump, freshman Christina Archibald took eighth place. Despite these good performances, the Hoosiers saw there was room for improvement in several areas.\n"We have six weeks to go until Big Tens," women's coach Randy Heisler said. "We haven't won anything yet, and I want the girls to get focused."\nThe men performed strong as well.\nIn the first outdoor meet of his career, freshman John Jefferson finished first in the 1,500-meter run. Jefferson beat the second-place runner by 1.5 seconds and finished with a time of 3:47.65\nSophomore Rob DeWitte finished fourth in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:12.00. In the triple-jump, IU was represented by freshman Aarik Wilson. He took a 10th place finish overall (ninth in his section) with a mark of 15.50 meters.\nIn the javelin, junior Pat Miller finished second in his section with the best throw of his career. The new personal record beat his previous mark by two feet. His throw was 64.76 meters, while the first-place throw was 64.82. Miller closed in on the school record and was just 3 meters away from an NCAA provisional mark. \n"I think it is going to take around 225 feet to (qualify for) the NCAA championships," he said. "I want to be throwing 230 feet by the end of the season." \nNext weekend's meet will not have as many high-caliber athletes and will be the first meet of the outdoor season in which the whole team will compete. \n"I think we have to show that there are several (athletes) in the wings that want to be apart of the scoring team," men's coach Marshall Goss said. "Next week we will have a full team and we will judge from that"
(07/25/02 8:23pm)
The men and women's track and field teams both were victorious in their home openers Saturday. The women defeated Central Michigan, Louisville and Marquette, while the men also defeated Marquette and held off a strong Central Michigan team. The rain held off until later in the evening, making it a good opportunity to perform well.\nThe women took full advantage of this by winning 13 of the 19 events of the day. The Hoosiers dominated their opponents in two of these victories. In the long jump junior Rose Richmond led the way as four Hoosiers finished in the top five. IU also dominated the 200-meter dash, as the women swept the top five spots with Danielle Carruthers coming away with first place. She also had another good day in the 100-meter hurdles running another NCAA automatic qualifier (13.10). Two of the top five times in the nation by collegiate athletes in this event have been run by Carruthers.\nThe distance runners also performed well. In a new event for women this season, the 3000-meter steeplechase, sophomore Audrey Giesler took second. Sophomore Becky Obrecht took second in the 5000-meters, freshman Mindy Peterson took first in the 1500 and senior Courtney Bell was able to win the 800-meter run with a time of 2:10. An NCAA provisional is 2:07 seconds. Bell was pleased with her performance and how the distance runners fared.\n"Our distance is looking up," Bell said. "It is looking a lot better than last year."\nThe men had several good performances but were not able to see that across the board. Despite winning ten events, the Hoosiers were only able to win by a few points. Two of these victories were by freshman UnRico Lloyd. He won the 100 and 200-meter dashes with ease and took a second place finish in the long jump. Freshman Aarik Wilson only beat Lloyd by seven centimeters but his jump of 7.06 was good enough for the victory. Wilson also came away with a win in the triple jump, where he posted an NCAA provisional mark. \nSenior Dino Efthimiou finally got on track in the pole vault as IU had the top three marks. He now hopes to return to the form that earned him a trip to the indoor national championships and get out of the doghouse.\n"I am not really happy with the height," Efthimiou said. "I guess (I'm) happy I got over the bar but just getting over the bar is heading in the right direction, it's a step forward."\nRyan Sarbinoff, a sophomore, was well on his way to having a great meet when he pulled up in the 200-meters with an injury. He posted a time of 47.72 in the 400-meter dash and would have pushed Lloyd in the 200-meter. If the injury ends up being serious, it could hurt the team in the long run. He runs the 400 and the 200 and as well as being on the 4X400-meter relay team. These events can combine to a large amount of points and could be the difference between winning and losing a meet.\n"We all know that we are not bad but (people say) this is Central Michigan and they are not very good," coach Marshall Goss said. "That happens a lot in life, people come in to beat you. It's one of those things where you have to be prepared. To be frank I don't know why we performed like that"
(04/29/02 4:29am)
The men's and women's track and field teams completed the first of several big weekends to come in the next month. This weekend's meets were marred with such bad weather at West Lafayette that the Boilermaker Open was cancelled after only a few events. \nThis led to marks and times that were not as good as they could have been. Despite this, many athletes on the women's side and several on the men's track and field teams fought through the poor conditions to have good meets.\nThe Penn Relays saw the IU women put on an outstanding performance. In a meet where traditional powerhouses like Louisiana State University, Texas and South Carolina dominate, the Hoosiers shone. The team had several good individual and relay team performances. \nThe junior tandem of Rachelle Boone and Danielle Carruthers continued to make noise on the national level. Boone was able to take fourth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.60. That was her fourth best time of the season and second fastest of the weekend. \nIn the 100-meter hurdles, Carruthers not only posted a third NCAA automatic qualifying time but also took first place in the event. The time of 12.94 seconds ranks her second in the nation. In the 3000-meter steeplechase the Hoosiers also did well. Sophomore Audrey Giesler and freshman Jamie Higginbotham took 10th and 13th respectively in the new event. \nThe relay teams also had success. The distance medley team was the first team to do well with a sixth place finish. The 4x400-meter relay team also finished third in their heat. The 4x800-meter relay team also came in third out of 30 teams. \nThe big news came out of the short relay teams. Both the 4x200 and 4x100-meter relay teams had goals of making it into the Champions of America race. This race features the top eight fastest teams from the preliminaries in that event. The team was able to do that and more. Both relay teams finished third overall. They were pleased with their performance and with the entire team this weekend.\n"We all pulled together and did real well," Carruthers said. "Considering what we have done in the last two weeks we did real well."\nThe Drake Relays saw several good performances by the IU men, but it was not seen across the board. The distance runners had several good performances including junior Bart Phariss, who took second in the 10,000-meters with a time of 30:17. \nSenior Ryan Huber turned another of these performances in the 800-meters. He took a first place finish with a time of 1:51. In the triple jump the team continues to get consistent performances from freshman Aarik Wilson and junior Hasaan Reddick. The pair finished second and third respectively. \n"It was not so much the weather as the kids not being ready to run," he said. "I was pleased with some people but not the total team effort. We have to get better, get competitive, and get healthy"
(04/26/02 5:22am)
The last weekend in April is an important time for the IU track and field teams.\nThe men will be attending two meets, while the women attend three. Both teams will travel to the Drake Relays in Iowa and the Purdue Relays, and the women are also attending the Penn Relays. \nThe Penn Relays is one of the biggest meets of the year. Talented athletes from all over the country come to compete. It isn't only a collegiate meet, either. The best high school runners in the country and relay teams from around the world also compete.\nThe highly touted 4x100-meter relay team will compete at the meet. In recent years, the relay team has not performed up to expectations, but it expects to do better this year. And the relay is not the only event in which IU feels it can do well.\n"I think everyone is pretty excited," junior Rose Richmond said. "We have the potential to finish in the top five in all events."\nThe Drake Relays is also a meet in which some of the best collegiate talent from around the country come to clash against one another. This year, 33 current or former NCAA Champions will be competing. With that much talent, the times and marks at the meet should rank among the best performances in the country this season.\nThe IU men's team will send some of its best to compete against the championship-caliber athletes at the Drake Relays. The women will send jumpers who are not running on a relay team at the Penn Relays. The Drake Relays should be the one of the best opportunities to attempt to earn a provisional or automatic mark for the NCAA Championships.\n"Drake is the competition we will see all season beside nationals," senior Wasyl Fedoriw said. "I will be interested to see how well we do."\nThe Purdue Relays will not have the feature athletes that the Drake and Penn Relays do, but the competition should be just as fierce. Many of IU's young athletes who did not qualify for the other meets will go to this meet, which will give them a chance to gain experience and battle against athletes at their level.\n"Since we are split up and going to three different places, we just want high-level performances," coach Randy Heisler said. "We are looking to have everyone who competes have a (personal record)"
(04/22/02 6:46am)
The men and women's track and field teams were unable to escape the weather this weekend as their meet, held on Illinois' campus, was cut short by lightning. The meet, which was Friday afternoon, was moved up a half hour in an attempt to get the meet finished before the bad weather moved in. \nMoving it up was not enough as the storm rolled in, the wind switched directions and the temperature dropped 20 degrees. \nBoth teams were competing strong before the decision was made to cancel the meet. There were several NCAA provisionals earned in the field events. \n"We had a fair meet going up until the time of the cancellation," coach Marshall Goss said. "We could have used (the meet) to get some work done in some of the areas that we needed it in but that happens."\nIn the javelin, the Hoosiers won both events as junior Patrick Miller and junior Irina Kharun continued their dominance in the event. Kharun also had another provisional mark in the event. \nThe hammer throw had two Hoosiers finish fourth. Freshman Will Fleming for the men and junior Kelley McKinney for the women. Senior Wasyl Fedoriw took fifth behind Fleming too. Fedoriw also took third in the shot put. The women's discuss also had an IU athlete finish second. Senior Heather Colyer threw a provisional mark of 166 feet.\nThe jumpers were not to be outdone by the throwers. In the long jump, the women dominated. Juniors Tandra Foster and Rose Richmond finished 1-2 respectively. Foster's mark was also an NCAA qualifying mark. The men were also able take first and second. Freshman Aarik Wilson led the way with a jump of 24'05. 50". Junior Haasan Reddick appeared to get over a hamstring injury with a jump of 24'01. 75." \nIn the pole vault, senior all-American Dino Efthimiou continued his efforts to regain the form he had during the indoor season. Last weekend was the first time during the outdoor season that he cleared a height. Friday he was able to earn an NCAA provisional mark with a vault of 17'03. 75". \nIn the only two events that IU ran in they did well. In the 1500-meter run senior Josh Trisler finished third with a time of 3:58. Sophomore Kurtis George took fourth. In the women's 3000-meters, freshman Mindy Peterson took first. \nWith the limited action, the teams will now be well-rested for the big meets next weekend. Both teams will send some athletes to the Drake Relays in Iowa. The women will also be taking their sprinters to the Penn Relays, one of the biggest meets of the season, and the men will send a large number of athletes to Purdue to compete next weekend.
(04/18/02 6:16am)
In high school, many football players play multiple sports. Sophomore Daniel Martin was one of those athletes. As an all-state football player, Martin out of Concord High School in Elkhart, Ind., also ran track. In high school, Martin was a state champion his junior year and a runner up his sophomore and senior years in the 300-meter hurdles. He was also undefeated in regular season races from his sophomore season until he graduated. Despite all these accolades, he still considered playing football for IU.\n"I thought about it but it wasn't serious," Martin said. "It would be hard with track and everything."\nThe problem with being a 300-meter hurdle state champion is that the race is not run in Division 1 track and field. That meant Martin had to adjust to running the 400-meter hurdles. Running 400-meters has not been a problem for Martin, who ran the regular 4x400-meter relay team since high school. He is now the lead leg on an IU team that ran 3:10 early this season and has the potential to finish in the top three at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships and qualify for nationals. The problem arises when hurdles are put in front of you that you jump over.\nIn his first appearance in the 400-meter hurdles last year, Martin ran a time of 54.00 seconds. A good time for most in their first attempt at an event as difficult as the 400-meter hurdles. He lowered his time to 53.41 in April. His season was unfortunately held back as he suffered a hamstring injury that slowed his progress in the new event. \n"It slowed him down quite a bit," coach Marshall Goss said.\nAt the meet last weekend, Martin ran in the event for the first time this season. His time of 52.61 seconds missed the NCAA provisional mark by just 1.4 seconds. Martin has more goals than just running a provisional mark this season.\n"I want to be at least in the top three at Big Tens and I would like to go to nationals too," he said.\nHis teammates do not think finishing in the top three in the Big Ten Championships or going to nationals will be a problem. In fact they think that he could go in one of several events.\n"There are three or four events that I think he has a chance (in) but right now his strong point right now would be the 400-meter hurdles," junior Matt Harris said. "Dan has the most positive outlook of all the athletes right now as far as capabilities go"
(04/11/02 4:22am)
The IU men's track and field team has one of the deepest distance teams in the Big Ten. A large part of the success in the distance events is in the 3000-meter steeplechase. \nLast season the team had two scorers in this event at the Big Ten outdoor championships. Senior Jeff Zeha and junior Tom Burns finished sixth and seventh respectively. Fellow sophomore Rob DeWitte has started the season well and looks to add another potential scorer at Big Ten's for the Hoosiers.\nLast year DeWitte was hampered by injuries and illnesses that limited his success. These setbacks diminished the amount of training he was able to do. He got past the setbacks and was able to train hard over the summer. This training enabled him to provide a boost to the IU cross country team late in the season. He has carried over that success into the outdoor season.\n"Rob has proven himself in his first two races that he is not to be taken lightly," junior Tom Burns said. "Our steeplechase training group is deeper now, because Rob has shown that he is able to run fast. His abilities to run and hurdle make our team a greater threat in the conference."\nThe running abilities of DeWitte are now apparent to those on the team and around the conference. He is not the only runner in his family that has had success in the Big Ten Conference. He is a third generation runner for the Hoosiers. His grandfather was an outstanding runner and his father was a school record holder for IU.\n"He came with not quite the credentials of maybe the other parts of his family had but he has a work ethic and that has gotten him to be a player in the steeplechase," coach Marshall Goss said. "We are very pleased and excited about that."\nDeWette has made an enormous amount of progress this year. Having a third scorer in any event at the Big Ten championships would be a bonus. In an event as wide open as the steeplechase is this year, he also believes that it is a good possibility. Despite that, he does not set this as a goal.\nThis season is a building block for future success in his senior year. DeWitte has plans on helping the cross country team returning to the NCAA championships and making a run at qualifying for the steeplechase during his senior year.\n"I don't like to set goals because I feel sometimes people get fixated on them, and end up either limited or disappointed," he said. "I prefer to step on the track and see what happens. As long as you prepare properly and leave everything on the track in the end, it's hard to complain"
(04/05/02 4:25am)
The Indiana men's and women's track and field teams are participating in the 75th annual Texas Relays this weekend at the University of Texas. The meet will feature top collegiate talent from around the country, with between 80 and 100 schools represented. \nTop high school and professional talent will participate as well. Two-time Olympic champion and world-record holder Maurice Greene will be one of the professional athletes running. Also running are John Drummond, Allen Johnson and Terrence Trammell.\nAbout 14 to 15 Hoosiers will compete for the men and see where the team is at and how much individuals have improved since the first meet at Arizona State a few weeks ago. Coach Marshall Goss said he expects the team to be close to top form. \n"We just went through one of the hardest practices of the season, so we are not tapering at the present time," Goss said. "We are expecting them to be coming into their prime."\nOne of the athletes competing this weekend for the men is freshman long jumper Aarik Wilson. He finished fourth in the NCAA championships, but he will most likely only triple jump this weekend. Wilson will be jumping with a broken finger, an injury that occurred when he got back from the Florida meet last weekend.\n"The cast is light. When I jump I don't even think about it," Wilson said. "I only think about it when I am jogging when it moves." \nThe women's team also gets a chance to compete this weekend. \n"It is another meet for us," Sprint coach Ed Beathea said. "It is an opportunity for us to run fast in the third weekend meet of the season. There is no one team down there we are trying to beat as much as we are trying to improve our times." \nThe women would like to earn some automatic qualifying times but will not be terribly disappointed if that doesn't happen. This meet is mostly relays because of the limited amount of individual entries. \n"If they happen that's great," Beathea said. "It is hard to say on relays because you are counting on four athletes to show up, and that is tough"
(04/04/02 5:27am)
Four years ago was the beginning of men's track and field coach Marshall Goss' career at IU. It also happened to be the first year for senior pole-vaulter Dino Efthimiou. Coach Goss and Efthimiou are a large part of the reason why the Hoosiers have returned to the Big Ten's elite. \nThe pole-vaulter graduated from Lakeland High School in LaGrange, Ind. Efthimiou has dual citizenship though. His parents are both from Greece and thus he is a legal Greek, as well American, citizen. This will allow him to make the Greece Olympic team if he earns a qualifying mark. \n"He has all the potential to (earn a qualifying mark)," Goss said. "He has to vault 18' 4". If he does that then he would have a good chance of making it for Greece."\nThe 18'4" mark would need to be made with a longer pole. Adjusting to a longer pole is more difficult for smaller pole-vaulters. Efthimiou stands only 5-foot-8 and has had a difficult time moving to a new pole. \n"I am slowly working to that. It is hard because the timing is different," he said. "My goal is to get a good height up were I can get into nationals early so I can focus on using a bigger pole."\nThere were not always Olympic aspirations for this vaulter from LaGrange. He was a 16' vaulter in high school and never competed in the state meet. With hard work and determination Efthimiou has improved two feet since he began jumping for the Hoosiers.\nLast indoor season Efthimiou qualified for the NCAA championship. He took fifth place in the event and earned all-American honors. Efthimiou again qualified for the national's in the outdoor season. That outdoor season he took second in the Big Ten Championships, which is his best finish to date. This indoor season he again qualified for the NCAA championships with a jump of 17'11." This tied his mark for third all time on the indoor list. \n"I had a disappointing indoor season," Efthimiou said. "I have not really jumped well outdoors. (Earning All-American honors) is something to work for."\nThis was the last year he will be able to jump during the indoor season but he has one more year of outdoor eligibility. He red-shirted his freshman outdoor season with fellow pole vaulter Ian Curry. Curry is also a senior and was looking forward to having a good outdoor season but a foot injury has set him back. The duo looks to have both of them finish top five in the Big Ten Championships.\n"We had top five jumps at the indoor championships (before the tragic death of a Penn State pole vaulter) so if I can get back we should be right there"
(04/01/02 7:13am)
The IU track and field team represented themselves well this weekend. Both the IU women and men's team went down to the Florida Relays in Gainesville. They also sent athletes to the Stanford Invitational.\nThe Hoosiers shone in their meets with three individual victories, one relay victory and other strong performances, including several top 10 finishes. Two individual victories were by juniors Rachelle Boone and Danielle Carruther's. Carruther's victory came in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.54 seconds. Boone's victory came in the 200-meter dash and was an NCAA provisional mark. The 4 X 100 team earned a first place finish.\n"The kids we took did well. It is only our second meet, we did great," coach Randy Heisler said. "The objective right now is to run against strong competition while we are still training hard."\nThe men's team had an impressive meet too. Senior Wasyl Fedoriw took a third place finish in the shot put. Freshman UnRico Lloyd had a strong race in the 100 meters and finished 4th overall, which is also how he finished in the long jump. Another freshman, Aarik Wilson, continued his string of good showings in the triple jump by finishing first. The 4 X 100 meter relay team also had a strong showing finishing fourth overall, despite being sore.\nThe warm weather prepares them for the rest of the outdoor season. It also helped prepare the men for their big meet next weekend in Texas.\n"I don't think it will be as humid in Texas next weekend but being in the heat should help us," Wilson said.\nIn California, sophomore Tom Burns had a 19th place finish in the steeplechase and teammate Jeff Zeha finished in 24th. In the 1000 meters sophomore Bart Phariss finished 32nd in his heat but the heat had many NCAA provisionals. In the 1500, freshman John Jefferson finished 22nd with a time of 3:48.
(03/29/02 4:25am)
The men's and women's track and field teams have a busy weekend. While the sprinters, throwers and jumpers head to the sunshine state for the Florida Relays, the distance runners are going in different directions. The men's distance runners will participate in a meet in California, and the women's distance runners head upstate to the Purdue Invitational.\nThe competition at these sites is expected to be tough. In Florida, several Big Ten teams, including Illinois, Ohio State and Wisconsin, will compete, as will some of the best athletes from the South Eastern Conference. \nThe women's track and field team finished second in the NCAA Indoor Championships. The IU women finished eighth overall. This meet is similar to the Baldy Castillo Invitational, as it will not be scored. \nBut much can be gained from the meet, scoring or not.\n"We need to learn how to compete against people who are better than us," men's coach Marshall Goss said, "and we have to learn how to come from behind on our jumps and our throws."\nAt the Stanford Invitational, four athletes will compete for the IU men's track team. IU planned to send more distance runners, but the athletes had to withdraw because of illness. Junior Jeff Zeha, sophomores Tom Burns and Bart Phariss and freshman John Jefferson are competing for IU. \nThese athletes face fierce competition, possibly the best opponents until the NCAA championships. Not only will the meet feature many of the top collegiate athletes, it will also have a few professional runners. With so much talent in the races, there is bound to be several athletes earning national qualifying marks. \n"It is hard telling," junior Chad Andrews said. "If the conditions are right, they will be able to pop a good one."\nThe women are taking several athletes to the meet, including junior Rachelle Boone and Danielle Carruthers, seniors Heather Colyer and Tia Trent and freshman Charlene Maddux. \nCarruthers is coming off an indoor season in which she was named Big Ten Indoor Athlete of the Year and had an outstanding meet at Arizona State. Her performance was so good that she was named Big Ten Outdoor Athlete of the Week. This is the beginning of the outdoor season, so performances like that should not be expected every week. \n"We are taking kids who can benefit from the weather and good competition," women's coach Randy Heisler said. "It is a long season, and we have just started training so you should keep that in mind"
(03/27/02 5:30am)
High school track and field in Indiana lacks a few of the events that are done on the college level. One of these events is the javelin. That is why it is odd to have a javelin thrower at IU who graduated from Bloomington North High School. Yet this Hoosier ranks among the conference's best even though he did not throw in high school.\nJunior Pat Miller is in his third season and hoping to have a great year after two surprising seasons. \nIn high school Miller participated in several sports, such as basketball and cross country. His senior year he decided to go out for the track team, where he was a long jumper and a high jumper. He had only begun throwing the javelin the summer before the start of his freshman year at IU with the Indiana track club. Miller walked on to the IU track team because he had been so active in athletics in high school and wanted to get involved in something here. \n"He dabbled with (the javelin) over the summer in a track club," coach Randy Heisler said. "We simplified it, and he caught on."\nIn his freshman year he finished 10th in the Big Ten. The first season he learned the fundamentals of throwing the javelin. The next season Miller improved nearly 25 feet on his personal best. That improvement moved him up to third all-time for IU in the event. It also helped him earn a seventh-place finish in the Big Ten Championships. \nCoach Heisler and Miller have plans to take home a Big Ten Championship this season. The key will be avoiding injury since throwing the javelin puts enormous stress on the body. In the first meet of the season at Arizona State University, Miller had one of the best throws of his career (60.05 meters). The toss was just outside of the NCAA provisional mark of 67 meters.\n"He was five meters off so he will have to improve a little bit," coach Marshall Goss said. "We are looking for a 20-meter improvement from the first day of throwing, so we will see what happens."\nBooks are also important to Miller, as he was named Academic All-Big Ten last season. He is majoring in business process management, computer information systems and finance. The thrower is on a partial academic scholarship, so he has to hit the books hard. \n"Grades are very important," Miller said. "I take my grades seriously, and with my three majors I have to"
(03/04/02 7:27am)
Most students were watching the IU men's basketball team claim a share of the Big Ten title, the men's track and field team was competing for the opportunity to qualify for the NCAA Championships. The team sent four athletes to Iowa State and six to Notre Dame. There were several provisional marks met and many personal records set at the two meets.\nNow it is just a waiting game to see who advances.\nAt Iowa State the Hoosiers earned two provisionals. Senior thrower Wasyl Fedoriw posted a provisional mark in the weight throw -- despite using equipment with which he was unfamiliar. A Minnesota coach complained to an official about Fedoriw's equipment after it had passed inspection, and the official decided that it would not be allowed.\nFedoriw's 19.58 throw still earned him a second-place finish. \n"I was trying to go automatic, but I didn't," he said. "I was about a meter or so off my best throw."\nFreshman UnRico Lloyd was the other IU athlete at Iowa State to post a qualifier. His time of 6.72 seconds in the 60-meter dash not only earned him a victory, but it also tied the school record. He also took fifth in the long jump with a jump of 7.16 meters (23-6). Also in the long jump was freshman Aarik Wilson, who finished third. Wilson had a season-best effort with a jump of 7.53 meters (24-8 1/4). Sophomore Ryan Sarbinoff tied his season-best in the 200-meters with at time of 21.54 seconds. That time was good enough for a fifth-place finish.\nAt Notre Dame the Hoosiers only received one provisional, and that was from senior Ryan Huber in the 800-meters. Huber was able to win the 800-meters with a time of 1:50.7. The other distance runners participating for IU did not fare as well. Juniors Bart Phariss and Chad Andrews needed to get around the 14-minute mark in the 5,000 meters to get bids for the NCAA Championships. Phariss managed a 14:18, and Andrews ran a 14:39, which placed them 11th and 18th respectively.\n"Going into it I felt a little flat," Andrews said. "We didn't get to run at Big Tens, and it threw off our practice schedule."\nHurdlers Matt Harris, a junior, and Micah Harvey, a sophomore, participated in the 60-meter hurdles and finished 10th and 12th with times of 8.10 and 8.16. Senior pole vaulter Ian Curry did not have a great meet but still has the outdoor season to look forward to.\n"Ian just didn't quite make the mark," coach Marshall Goss said. "He still has a little bit more work to do to get there."\nThe team still looks to have five or six athletes qualify for the national championships. Announcements will be made later this afternoon. The athletes that do qualify will use this week to prepare while the rest of the team begins conditioning for the upcoming outdoor season.