Six athletes represent IU in national competion

Maurice Greene. Marion Jones. Gail Devers. IU. \nLast weekend, IU mixed with the top competition in the country at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships in Stanford, Calif. and emerged with five top-10 placements.\n"We were excited to get back into the national scene," IU men's coach Marshall Goss said of bringing six athletes to the Championships.\nBesides five top-10 placements, IU placed one other athlete among the top 15 and placed in the junior division on its way to rivaling LSU as the best represented collegiate program at the event. The women's team -- led by junior Rachelle Boone -- grabbed top-10 spots in every sprint event and in the long jump, while Hasaan Reddick was the sole winner from the men's team.\n"It was a very important meet for us," women's coach Randy Heisler said. "(This is the) first time our athletes get to compete with other (non-collegiate) athletes that are doing this well." \nHeisler said the event marked the second of two major competitions on the track and field calendar -- the first being the NCAA's -- that allow top athletes a chance to test themselves against premier competition.\nLeading off for IU on Friday, Boone finished 10th in the 100 meter semifinals, narrowly missing a trip to the finals with a time of 11.56. She then turned around and placed fifth in the 200 meter dash on Sunday with a time of 22.63 -- 0.28 seconds behind Marion Jones' winning time of 22.63. \nThis all came after a season that ended under the shadow of injury for Boone. She had pulled up lame in the Big Ten Championships, never fully recovering before NCAA's.\n"I am just so pleased that Rachelle Boone was able to run and run well," Heisler said.\nAlso placing fifth at the USA Championships last weekend was senior Rose Richmond in the long jump. She recorded a leap of 20'10" for the honors, only four inches off the leader, Tuscon Elite's Brianna Glenn. \nRichmond held one the nation's top marks going into the event and was part of IU's All-American 4x100 relay team. But she had failed to make the finals in the NCAA's, thus making her third best personal mark at the USA Championships especially timely, if not redemptive.\n"Rose actually did pretty good considering what happened at NCAA's," jump coach Wayne Pate said.\nPate said he was happy with her performance as well as Reddick's triple jump effort, though both have recorded longer jumps this season.\n"It's tough jumping against the best competition in the country, especially when you haven't seen them before," Pate said.\nRichmond's mark was enough to put her in contention for one of the two women's spots at the under-25 nationals, depending on whether the jumpers who finished ahead of her opt to compete at the meet.\nSenior Tia Trent -- who is a two-time Big Ten champion in the 400 meter dash and who filled in for Boone on IU's 4x100 relay team NCAA's -- turned in a seventh place performance in the 400 meter at Cobb Track. She ran a 52.71 in the event.\nsenior Danielle Carruthers then finished ninth in the 100 meter hurdles, rounding out IU's strong showing on the short track. She finished with a time of 13.10 in an event that she dominated at Big Ten's. Though the time did not come close to her record 12.68 -- the world's second best time this year, set by Carruthers at the Big Tens -- it was still faster than any other collegiate time in the 100 meter hurdles this year.\nCarruthers is a two-time All-American in the event and also a part of the IU's All-American 4x100 team. Her semifinals time left her just shy of the finals. \nGail Devers went on the win the event with a time of 12.51.\nReddick grabbed a 13th place finish in the triple jump for the men's squad with an effort of 52'4", significantly bettering his best attempt at the NCAA's. \n"He's just come so far in the three years he's been with us," Goss said. "I really feel he could go to the next level."\nIU freshman Aarik Wilson, who was a Big Ten champion and who finished second nationally in the triple jump, did not compete at the USA Championships.\nIU was also represented in junior competition by freshman Christina Archibald, who finished ninth in high jump in the women's junior national division. Her best attempt was 5'6".\nNo official team score was kept at the USA Championships.