Track south for prestigious invite

Coming off a home invitational where a combined 40 men and women track and field athletes set personal records, IU coach Randy Heisler said he wants to continue that trend starting today at the Tyson Foods Invitational in Fayetteville, Ark. \nThis two-day meet at the University of Arkansas features teams from the Southeastern Conference, Big 12 Conference and other universities from across the nation.\n"(The Tyson Foods Invitational) is probably one of the three best meets in the indoor season in the country just because of the quality," Heisler said.\nIU is the only Big Ten school competing in the Tyson Foods Invitational, and it is IU's first time competing at the event.\nIU had three athletes win their individual events last weekend in the Indiana Invitational. Senior Lauren Chesnut jumped 12.44 meters to win the triple jump, and juniors Emily Tharpe, who cleared 3.80 meters in the pole vault, and Charlene Maddox, who finished with a time of 24.74 seconds in the 200-meter dash, both contributed to the team's wins.\nThe track inside the Randal Tyson Track Center is a banked track where the curves are raised to produce fast times. The Randal Tyson Track Center is the location for the 2004 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championship.\n"We've got a number of young ladies in the (200-meter dash and 400-meter dash) that I think can just drop significant amounts of time in those races by getting on that track," Heisler said.\nIU senior sprinter Ara Towns did not compete in the Indiana Invitational but traveled to New York City to compete at Madison Square Garden in the prestigious Millrose Games, which featured the return of American sprinter Marion Jones to professional competition after recently giving birth.\nTowns competed in the collegiate 60-meter dash and finished third with a time of 7.53 seconds, finishing just behind Big Ten rival Connie Moore from Penn State, who finished second with a time of 7.52.\nTowns said she can take the experience of running under the bright lights and transferring it to the rest of her indoor season by staying focused and concentrating on running the whole race.\n"(I just want) to run the clock and just run because you never know what can happen," Towns said.\nHeisler said he wants to come out of the Tyson Foods Invitational with higher placings and rankings before the Big Ten Indoor Championship in two weeks.\n"For everybody that's going to run, it's an opportunity to run the best they probably ever run," Heisler said. "Hopefully, the races are going to be hot, as far as good competition, I think it will be. If we can get down there and somebody can come out of the meet qualified for nationals, then it's well worth the trip."\n-- Contact staff writer Steve Slivka at smslivka@indiana.edu.