No. 13 IU to face in-state rivals

After several weekends of intense competition at various invitationals across the country, the No. 13 IU women's track and field team will travel to Purdue Saturday to face the Boilermakers in its only dual meet of the season. The team is coming off many strong performances last weekend at both the Penn and Drake relays, as well as the Boilermaker Invitational. \nSophomore Emily Tharpe made progress in the pole vault at Purdue as she posted a personal best mark for her outdoor collegiate career. Freshman Andrea Dalla Rosa made a step in the right direction with her outdoor personal record throw in the shot put at the Penn Relays. Both athletes qualified for the regional meet. Also qualifying for regionals last weekend were junior Audrey Giesler in the steeplechase and freshman Lindsay Hattendorf in the 5,000-meter run. Giesler's time of 10:25.90 is currently ninth in the nation. \nSenior Kelley McKinney qualified for regionals as well in the hammer throw at the Drake Relays. \nCoach Randy Heisler said this weekend's meet will provide a "good situation" for the athletes to perform.\n"I'm looking forward to this weekend because of the competition," he said. \nDalla Rosa said her goal for the meet is simple.\n"I'm just looking to throw further than last week," she said. \nSenior Danielle Carruthers, who has qualified for regionals in both the 100-meter hurdles and the 4x100 relay, said her main concern for the weekend is to get competitive times in the 100- and 200-meter dashes. Carruthers has focused primarily on the hurdles and the relay thus far in the season and has not yet had an opportunity to compete in either of the open events. She will be counted on to score in the open events at the Big Ten Championships on May 16 and 17.\nCarruthers said so far she is impressed and encouraged by the progress the team is making, as 16 Hoosiers have qualified for regionals.\n"It seems like every time I ask someone how they did, they say they qualified for regionals," she said.