Women's track shows improvement

The IU women's track and field team proved that it is taking the right steps toward a successful season Friday and Saturday at the Indiana Invitational. Though team scores weren't recorded, coach Randy Heisler said he was very encouraged by the efforts put forth by the team.\n"It was a great weekend for us," he said. \nLast week, Heisler said he considered the Indiana Invitational a "practice run" for the Big Ten Championships. Saturday, after six first place performances from the Hoosiers as well as several personal records and season-bests, Heisler said he is a bit more at ease with his team's progress.\n"I feel better about Big Tens than I did Friday," he said. \nThe sprinters continued their impressive season, led by senior Rachelle Boone with first place finishes in both the 60- and 200-meter dashes. Boone, who has yet to be beaten this year in either event, finished with NCAA automatic qualifying times both Friday and Saturday and set a Gladstein Fieldhouse record for the 60 Friday with a time of 7.26. Boone also qualified provisionally for the 200.\nBoone said she is satisfied with her performances this weekend and, though pleased, she did not expect to run such good times so consistently at this point in the season. \n"God has let me run some ridiculously good times," she said. \nBoone noted that her best competition comes from teammate senior Danielle Carruthers, who finished second in the 60 and also improved her time. \nHeisler said he considers himself "fortunate to have them."\n"They feed off of each other," he said. "It's very healthy."\nBoone said she is particularly proud of sophomores Ara Towns and Karla Marshall, who set personal records in the 60 and 200, respectively. \nBoth Boone and Heisler said they were impressed by sophomore Charlene Maddox's performance in the 4x400 relay. Maddox, who competed for the first time this season on Saturday, contributed to the season-best time in the relay. \nAlso competing for the first time this year because of injuries were seniors Rose Richmond and Tandra Foster. Richmond placed first in the long jump, and Foster took second. The two only took three of six jumps so as not to aggravate their injuries.\n"It's great to have them back," Heisler said of Maddox, Richmond and Foster.\nThe strong finish in the long jump marked only one of several solid field event performances. Junior Lauren Chesnut won the triple jump, and freshman Andrea Dalla Rosa placed first in the shot put. Both Dalla Rosa and junior Jaclyn Taylor set personal records in the shot put by over two feet. Senior Kelley McKinney also had a strong performance in the weight throw with a season-best throw and a first place finish.\nThe mid-distance and distance squads complemented the impressive efforts in the sprints and field events with a few exceptional performances of their own. Distance events were highlighted by freshman Lindsay Hattendorf and her first place finish in the 5000-meter run. Freshman Jessica Gall finished second in the mile, and Chioma Ndubisi was the runner-up in the 400-meter dash with an indoor career-best time. \nSophomore Mindy Peterson added a second place finish in the 800 -- one of the few events that the Hoosiers have yet to dominate. Peterson said she was "happy, but not satisfied" with her performance, but impressed by the overall results of the meet.\n"Everyone performed a lot better than what we have been," she said. \nPeterson said she believes the team is on the "right track" for a successful appearance at Big Tens, which is less than a month away and will be hosted by IU. \nPeterson said she considers her efforts this weekend as a "little step forward" and is eager to compete again next week.\nThe Hoosiers will travel to Indianapolis for the Canon IV Classic next Friday and Saturday.