Hoosier track and field stumble at Championships

The men's and women's track and field teams came away from the Bernie Moore Track Stadium on the campus of Louisiana State University with some unexpected performances at the 2002 NCAA Outdoor Championships. \nSenior Tia Trent, who had not run with the 4x100 squad all season, ran the anchor leg of the relay in place of an injured Rachelle Boone. A strained hamstring suffered at the Big Ten Championships prevented Boone, a mainstay on the relay for three years, from competing. \nTrent, who also competed in the 400 meter dash this weekend, joined freshman Ara Towns, junior Danielle Carruthers and junior Rose Richmond to record the team's seventh-best time of the year in the relay final. Their seventh-place finish earned the Hoosiers All-American status for the third consecutive year in the 4x100.\nCarruthers would also earn All-American honors in the 100 meter hurdles, but not in the fashion many observers anticipated.\nThe junior from Paducah, Ky., entered the hurdles final as the fastest competitor in both the preliminary and semifinal rounds. Carruthers raced to another lead in the final before clipping the seventh hurdle. She then hit the eighth and ninth hurdles, finally crashing to the ground. Carruthers, predicted to win the national championship in the event by Track and Field News, finished ninth. \nIllinois' Perdita Felicien, who Carruthers defeated at the Big Ten Championships, won the race with a time of 12.91. Carruthers' 12.68 mark at Big Tens was the fastest time in the nation this year by far and went down as the third-best time in NCAA history.\nJunior Irina Kharun joined Carruthers in earning All-American honors with her fourth-place finish in the javelin. Kharun is only the second Hoosier in history to earn All-America recognition in the javelin.\nIn the long jump, Big Ten champion Rose Richmond could not duplicate her success in the 4x100 relay and failed to qualify for the event finals.\nIU men were also represented in the field events. Big Ten Freshman of the Year Aarik Wilson and 2002 All-Big Ten selection Hasaan Reddick both competed in the triple jump. \nWilson added All-American honors to his resume by finishing second in the competition. \nHis third and final jump set a new personal best. The 2002 Big Ten champion already has the third-best mark in IU history.\nReddick, a junior, could not make it four consecutive weeks with a season best. He entered the NCAA meet having recorded his three best marks of the outdoor season in the season's last three weeks, but still missed the finals.