Training shows in track team's win against Ohio State

The sprinters on the women's track and field team focused on Ohio State All-American Donica Merriman prior to the Hoosiers' dual meet against the Buckeyes Saturday at Harry Gladstein Fieldhouse. \nMerriman showed up for the meet in street clothes and didn't run. But the Hoosiers didn't need to feel pressure from the sprinter and hurdler to meet five NCAA provisional qualifying marks in four events and win eight of 15 events to capture the meet 89-70. \nSenior Lorraine Dunlop placed first in the 60-meter dash with a NCAA provisional qualifying time of 7.40 and first in the 200-meter dash (24.41). Without Merriman, Dunlop's closest competitor was sophomore teammate Rachelle Boone, who finished second in both the 60- and 200-meter dashes with an NCAA provisional time of 7.44 in the 60. \nIn the 60-meter hurdles, sophomore Danielle Carruthers defeated her nearest competitor by more than one-tenth of a second with a NCAA provisional time of 8.40. \nThe provisional NCAA qualifying times set by the three sprinters have been met at a quicker pace than last year, Dunlop said. She said she credits the drastic drops in time to the Hoosiers' new sprint training program. \n"I think I'm about a week or two ahead of time than I was last year," Dunlop said. "It feels good, but it's not just good enough to hit it. I want to keep trying to capitalize on that mark that I ran today. If I keep capitalizing, I might chalk up a good season." \nSenior Jennifer Brown also met NCAA provisional marks in two events, as she won the shot put with a throw of 15.60 meters and placed second behind Ohio State junior Katy Craig's best toss of 19.41 meters in the weight throw. Brown's best throw was 17.91 meters. \nThe meet was Brown's second consecutive weekend of meeting NCAA qualifying marks, and coach Randy Heisler said he was pleased with Brown's improvement. \n"I was very happy with Jen," Heisler said. "I thought she came back in the weight. She had been struggling a little bit in that, and I think she came back and threw pretty well against a very good weight thrower. \n"I was happy with all the throwers. The throwers improved from top to bottom. Sophomore Kelly McKinney and freshman Jackie Taylor both PR'd (set personal records) by huge amounts in the shot and down the road they're really going to help us." \nAside from the throwers and sprinters, Heisler said he was satisfied with his team's overall performance against the Buckeyes, especially after IU's dismal 81-81 tie with Michigan last weekend. The Hoosiers were better mentally prepared for Ohio State, he said. \n"We've had 15, 18 performances that were much better than last week and that's what we need to have," Heisler said. \nHeisler said better mental preparedness especially showed when his sprinters reacted to the absence of Merriman, who finished third in the 60-meter hurdles and fourth in the 200-meter dash at last year's NCAA indoor championships. \nOhio State coach Russ Rogers said he chose to not run Merriman because she has a slight sprain. \n"I don't want to take any chances on her getting hurt because she can score 30 points for us in the Big Ten," Rogers said. "My concept is prevention is better than cure. That's one reason why we didn't run her"