Team breaks records at Drake Relays

The men's track team said it knew the Drake Relays were going to present great competition. But rather than let the competition get them down, the Hoosiers excelled.\nSenior decathlete Brian Bowman began the Hoosier dominance with a fourth-place finish in the decathlon. Bowman was the top collegiate finisher in the event with a new career high and all-time school record of 7,123 points, eclipsing his 7,091-point performance April 15 at the Sea Ray Relays.\nSenior Tom Brooks also broke a record and recorded the highest finish for the Hoosiers in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. Brooks took second with a career best time of 8:57.65 to two-time champion Vladimir Golias.\nIn other distance events, sophomore Chris Powers took sixth in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 30:38.60, the second best time for the Hoosiers this season. In the 10,000-meter run, sophomore Chad Andrews took fifth with a time of 14:40.68, a season best by six seconds. Senior Aaron Gillen took seventh with a time of 14:46.46.\nDespite some Hoosiers not qualifying for final rounds in the third day of the Drake Relays, other Hoosiers came through. Junior 2001 Indoor All-American Dino Efthimiou won the pole vault, defeating Big Ten rival Tom Marchese of Illinois, and clearing a height of 17 feet, 3 inches, his second-best vault of the season. \nSophomore Matt Harris took fifth in his heat of the 110-meter high hurdles with a time of 14.67 seconds. Sophomore Contrell Ash grabbed sixth in his heat of the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.81 seconds.\n On the final day of the event, the Hoosiers had no relay teams competing but still made their presence felt. \n Junior Ryan Huber finished third in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:51.14, less than one second off of the leader and winner, Joseph Lee of Kansas State. Junior Kevin Chandler took sixth in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 3:52.72, his second best time this season. In the triple jump, sophomore Hasaan Reddick recorded a leap of 48 feet, 11 1/2 inches, his second-best mark this season. \nMembers of the team who didn't travel to the Drake Relays went to the Boilermaker Open in West Lafayette and fared well there, recording five top-three performances.