Team goes for 2 in a row

Coming off an 85-77 victory against conference rival Michigan, the men's indoor track team hopes to continue the momentum when facing Ohio State at noon Saturday in its home opener at the Harry Gladstein Fieldhouse.\nSince 1990, IU (1-0) has a slight edge in Big Ten Championship competition against Ohio State, toppling the Buckeyes six of 11 times. The Hoosiers defeated Ohio State last year in a four-team meet with Western Carolina and the University of Washington. \n"The dual meet should favor Ohio State because of their added depth over the past couple of years," coach Marshall Goss said, "but should be competitive if the Hoosiers step up."\nThe Hoosiers are looking to begin the season well, starting with the efforts of sophomore Hasaan Reddick in the high jump. Reddick was one of seven veteran athletes who set career bests against the Wolverines last weekend. Assistant coach Wayne Pate works with the jumpers and said the outcome of the three jumping events could shape the meet\n"It will be a pretty tough competition," Pate said. "They've got one kid who has jumped about the same as Hasaan has, and our second kid, freshman Chris Rosenthal is about what their second kid is, too. I'm hoping we'll jump well, but you never can tell because it's still early."\nReddick said he is excited about the meet and wants to come away with a victory in the long jump and the triple jump, a victory that eluded him last weekend.\n"I believe that I have what it takes to win this one," Reddick said. "I'd like to total 50 feet in the triple and around 23 feet in the long jump because that should get the job done, and that's what I plan to do."\nBut the meet has 12 events besides the high jump, triple jump and long jump. So the Hoosiers can't rely on just the strong showings from their jumpers. IU must compete against some of the best athletes in the nation. \nOhio State senior Andrew Pierce, an All-American last year, received Big Ten Athlete of the Week honors for his two individual victories in the 200-meter and 400-meter dashes at the Ohio State Invitational Jan. 9. He also anchored the first place 4x400m relay team for the Buckeyes. \nSenior Ian Connor represented Ohio State in the 2000 NCAA Indoor Championships along with Pierce and is expected to win the steeplechase during the outdoor season at the NCAA meet. The Hoosiers will face him in that event. They will be led by sophomore Chris Powers, who won the 3,000-meter in his first indoor competition. \nBut it's not a good sign that Powers' time was more than 10 seconds slower than Connor's best this year and four seconds slower than the Buckeyes' second fastest 3,000-meter runner, junior J.J. O'Rielly.\nThe coaches and players said they realize the difficulty in coming away with a victory this week, but Goss said he hopes his team steps it up a notch for the Buckeyes. \n"We had a respectable meet last week, but not great by any stretch of imagination," Goss said. "Ohio State is much better than Michigan and lines up across the board with good athletes. There are no sure wins"