Team counting on depth

Saturday, Little 500 racers will be speeding around the Bill Armstrong Stadium track, but before that, the women's track team plans to scorch its own track against Illinois and Eastern Michigan.\nThe Hoosiers return to Robert C. Haugh Track and Field 11 a.m. Saturday for the second scored meet of the season.\nLast year, IU defeated Illinois 118-78, but this weekend it is shaping up to be a seesaw battle between the conference foes. Illinois ranks higher than IU in seven events, while the Hoosiers are better in five.\nWith Eastern Michigan thrown in the mix, the chances for the Hoosiers winning the meet decrease. Eastern Michigan is bringing a full squad and ranks at the top of seven events.\nCoach Randy Heisler said this meet might be difficult because Eastern Michigan and Illinois are joining forces and will not take points away from each other because they differ in strengths. \nThe Hoosiers need to show their depth across the board to overcome Illinois' nationally renowned hurdler corps and Eastern Michigan's strong distance and field events squads, Heisler said.\nThis weekend could be a preview of the Big Ten and NCAA championships in the 100-meter hurdles.\nSophomore Danielle Carruthers automatically qualified in the event last weekend at the Sea Ray Relays, and the Illini possess the top two hurdlers in the nation. Illinois' sophomore Perdita Felicien and freshman Susanna Kallur both automatically qualified last weekend at the Texas Relays.\nAlthough the two Illini qualified with better times than Carruthers, the Hoosier said she is not concerned.\n"I went to Nationals, so I can run with anyone," Carruthers said. "If I'm going to run my best race, I want it to be at Nationals. Our sprint squad has the reputation that every time we step on the track, we're expected to get first or second. If we don't do our part, then we aren't going to win."\nUnlike other events in which the points are up for grabs, the Hoosiers own the throwing events.\nSenior Jennifer Brown, junior Heather Colyer and sophomore Irina Kharun are expected to rack up points in their specialty events. \nBrown said she knows the importance for her and her fellow throwers to earn as many points as possible for the team.\n"We go out to dominate, and with us being strong in pretty much every throwing event, it helps out a lot," Brown said. "We don't hope that anyone else has a bad day, but if they do, hopefully we'll be able to pick up some slack."\nSince the beginning of the outdoor season, the Hoosiers have been training intensely, but now they said they are looking forward to the Big Ten Championship.\n"We're right in the crunch time of the season with everyone training hard," Heisler said. "This will be the beginning of when we want to start seeing the performances go up, but both of those teams will supply us with some good competition, and we'll see what we can do"