4 women qualify for NCAA championships

If three athletes had thrown farther than senior shot putter Jenn Brown this season, she would have missed a trip to the NCAA indoor track and field championships for the first time in four years. \nInstead, Brown hovers near the bottom of the list of shot put qualifiers with the 14th best throw. Only 16 women qualified for the event, but Brown said she doesn't mind where she stands. \n"Once you get into the meet, ranking means nothing," said Brown, who placed 10th in the shot put last year. "It will be a very good meet across the board." \nBrown will go to Fayetteville, Ark., for her fourth consecutive NCAAs this weekend. So will three of her teammates. \nSophomore Rachelle Boone qualified for the 60-meter and 200-meter dashes. Sophomore Danielle Carruthers returns to Fayetteville for the second time in the 60-meter hurdles, while senior Lorraine Dunlop qualified in the 60-meter dash.\nFor the men's track and field team, junior Dino Efthimiou qualified for the NCAAs as the 11th-best pole vaulter this season. \nThe four Hoosiers from the women's team are all veterans of at least one NCAA championship. Brown, Carruthers and Dunlop qualified for last year's indoor NCAAs, and Boone accompanied the three to the outdoor nationals three months later. She placed 13th in the 100-meter dash and 11th in the 200-meter dash.\n This year Boone ranks fifth in the nation in the 60-meter dash. Dunlop follows at eighth. Boone also ranks sixth in the 200-meter dash. In the 60-meter hurdles, Carruthers holds the third fastest time behind two Big Ten opponents.\nCarruthers said she wouldn't mind the NCAA finals reflecting the Big Ten finals. She finished third in the Big Ten championships behind Ohio State's Donica Merriman and Illinois Perdita Felicien, who have the nation's fastest times entering the NCAAs.\n"I'm hoping it's going to be like that, but a lot of people look to (get personal records)," said Carruthers, who placed 11th last year. "It would be kind of a mistake to just talk about Big Tens. Everyone's going to be equally fast and competitive."\nCarruthers also qualified in the 200-meter dash last year, but she has struggled in the event this season. Her season-best time of 7.37 seconds in the 60-meter dash would have qualified her, but she opted to focus on the hurdles this year. \nDunlop said she's aiming to finish in the top three in the 60-meter dash. Last season, she was the 15th fastest qualifier and finished 12th -- not earning All-American status. This year she said she plans to more than savor being at nationals and actually be a factor.\nShe said she also looks forward to racing with Boone.\n"I pray to God that I can go in there and be top three in the nation," Dunlop said. "I don't think that's farfetched or anything. I'm going to give everything I have, and I know Rachelle will, too."\nLike Dunlop, the 2001 championships are Brown's last chance to crack the top nine for All-American status in her event. Brown finished 10th last year and was named an All-American because a competitor ahead of her is a citizen of Canada. She also placed 11th in the weight throw, but didn't qualify in the event this year.\n"I just want to make it to finals," Brown said. "I hope to walk out with my head a little higher than the last three years"