The Hoosiers have now entered the top 25 rankings this week at number 23, preceding the Indiana University Relays held this Friday and Saturday.
The top-25 ranking comes after an extremely successful weekend for the Hoosiers at the Gladstein Invitational, where the team won 13 events.
“Look, we want to keep pushing forward, but I was very happy with that jump,” IU Coach Ron Helmer said. “Any time you’re ranked top 25 in the country, it’s notable, and I think we have runners who are going to continue to strengthen our team and give us a chance to move up those rankings.”
Some of those notable athletes include senior Kendell Wiles, sophomore Maggie Allen and junior Katherine Receveur, who excelled in both the 600-meter and the 3000-meter, respectively.
This past week, Wiles came in fourth place in the 600-meter with a time of 1:30.38. This performance ranks her with the second-best time in the Big Ten at this point in the season.
The Hoosiers also had an excellent performance in 3000-meter race. Junior Katherine Receveur finished sixth in the race with a time of 9:18.47, which ranks her second in the Big Ten right now. It also gives her the 12th-fastest time in the NCAA.
In addition to Receveur, Junior Maggie Allen came in eighth in the 3000 with a time of 9:22.56. This performance ranks her at third in the Big Ten and 15th in the NCAA.
Also excelling last weekend was the women’s 4x800 meter relay team. The Hoosiers had the second-fastest time last week with a team made up of Anevay Hiehle, Joely Pinkston, Mallory Mulzer and Kelsey Harris.
The Hoosiers saw strong performances from sophomore Khayla Dawson, who is currently ranked third in the Big Ten, as well as 14 in the NCAA in the shot put, as well as great work from freshman Maddie Pollard.
This weekend will look more standard in terms of the lineup. This week should be an even better one, said Helmer, as the athletes should be more rested.
“I think the women’s 800 is going to be really good," Helmer said.
"Our jumpers were a little off last weekend, so I would expect to see our jumpers have a really great meet this weekend."
The 800-meter race will feature junior Kelsey Harris as well as senior Brenna Calder, among others.
Helmer also explained that freshman Natalie Price was sick last weekend and that she expects to see her excel in her performance this weekend.
Additionally, Zykeria Williams should also have a great week this week, said Coach Helmer.
