Women place 2nd, men 4th

17.74 miles per hour; approaching third gear. That's how fast Danielle Carruthers was going Saturday when she recorded this year's second best time in women's 100 meter hurdles on the planet. Carruthers' run concluded a weekend of personal bests at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships in Madison, Wis.\nWinning her event by .32 seconds and beating her previous best time by .13 seconds; the junior was one of several Hoosiers who brought their best to the conference championship as the women's track team finished second behind the University of Michigan and the men's squad placed fourth.\n"We really pulled together," said a disappointed but hopeful Carruther's of the women's second place finish. While decorated with dominating individual performances, the meet was the first outdoor team meet this century the lady Hoosiers didn't win outright. \n"We knew we all did the best we could do," Carruther's added.\nOther standouts on the men's and women's teams included junior Rose Richmond and freshman Aarik Wilson. Richmond won the women's long jump by setting a Big Ten record with a personal best leap of 21'6." The jump was the second longest posted by any collegiate woman and top 20 among all female athletes in the U.S. this year. \nWilson headlined the men's efforts with a career milestone in the triple jump at 54'0.5" to secure the men's only individual Big Ten title. The freshman showed the strength of this year's recruiting class with his nationally-competitive distance, recording his best jump so far this year at the meet.\nThe women's team collected five titles in all with Carruthers, Richmond, senior Tia Trent and freshman Ara Towns each taking home a share of two titles. Aside from their individual efforts, Carruthers and Richmond were part of the 4x100 medalist team that included Towns and junior Rachelle Boone. The team set a McClimon Track record of 44.22 with their second best outdoor time this season to successfully defend their title in the event.\nTrent, a senior, then reclaimed the 400 meter title she won as a freshman with a 53.63 run. She also joined the 4x400 team of Towns, sophomore Chiama Ndubisi and freshman Charlene Maddox to claim first place with a time of 3:40.18.\n"It was nice for Tia to win here at her last conference meet," coach Randy Heisler said. He said he was pleased overall with the sprint and short distance efforts but unhappy with the Hoosiers' throwing performance.\n"It was the worst point production in throwing since 1985," Heisler said. \nHe attributed part of that to not entering a shotputter in the meet (an event IU has finished third or higher in since 1985) and to the other Big Ten schools' breakout throws in javelin that successfully muffled IU's junior Irina Kharun. Kahrun owns the sixth best throw in the country but could only muster a fifth place finish in the formidable field with a heave of 164'7."\nInversely, the men thrived in javelin, riding sophomore Pat Miller's NCAA-provisional throw of 221'1." The mark was enough for second place and put Miller on the alternate bubble for the NCAA championships. His performance typified the men's strong showing in the field.\nAdding to Wilson's first place finish in the triple jump, junior Hasaan Reddick placed third in the event to become the only other male athlete to qualify for Nationals. He did so with a personal record of 53' 8" on his final jump of the meet, shattering his previous best by a foot.\n"I didn't want my season to end," said Reddick, commenting on his clutch jump. \nDancing with disqualification, he scratched on his first two of three preliminary jumps, making it into the finals with a sub-50 mark, before taking three more attempts to reach the qualifying plateau by five centimeters.\nReddick and Wilson also contributed in the long jump along with freshman UnRico Lloyd, where the men accounted for the third, fourth and fifth place spots. \n"We showed true dominance in the horizontal jumps," Reddick said.\nCombined with runner-up finishes in the 4x100 meter relay run and pole vault and overall command of pole vaulting points (with three total top eight finishes), this dominance helped propel the men's team to its best Big Ten tournament finish this millennium.\n"I thought we had a good meet," coach Marshall Goss said "Got off to a good start. 4x100 did a superb job, especially considering they were hobbling."\nWith 11 on the injury list coming into the meet, Goss said the meet became even more of a proving ground for what he considers one of his best recruiting classes. Among the other standouts in this year's recruiting class is freshman John Jefferson, who ran a 3:49.64 to finish second in the conference in the 1500 meter run.\nTwo men -- Wilson and Reddick -- and five women -- Carruthers, Richmond, Towns, Boone and Kharun -- are currently qualified for the NCAA's, while a few others, including Trent, Miller and 400 meter runner freshman Emily Tharpe, will have to wait and see when final qualification decisions are made today. These decisions hinge upon injuries, open spots and a variety of other factors that dictate how many athletes will compete in each event at nationals. \nWilson and Reddick qualified in the triple jump, Kharun in the javelin, and Carruthers, Richmond, Towns and Boone are qualified in the 100 meter hurdles, long jump and 4x100 meter relay, respectively. Depending on health, Boone may also run individual sprint events, including the 200 meter.\nBoth Goss and Heisler are confident that those traveling to nationals will put the Hoosiers on the board. 2000-2001 Big Ten Coach of the Year Heisler said he expects more of the same from the Big Tens, hoping breakout performances push IU women into the top five of each of their respective events at the NCAAs. \n"We could run against any team in the country and win," Heisler said of his Hoosiers who have amassed a 149-4-1 indoor-outdoor record in the last three years.\nHis confidence in team performance translates into high expectations for individuals at Nationals as the season closes in Baton Rouge, La., May 29-June 1.