IU runs west, south for the weekend

The IU men's track team plans to split the weekend between Stanford, Calif. and Gainesville, Fla. The team's distance runners will head to Stanford, perennially a prime spot given that its weather is typically conducive for fast distance races. The bulk of the team will travel to Gainesville to compete at the Florida Relays, a solid meet in all other events.\n"We've had one week of outdoor practice now," said IU coach Randy Heisler. "Basically, we're just going to see where we're at." \nThe meet will see one significant season debut in the return to competition of junior All-American and 2003 NCAA Indoor runner-up triple jumper Aarik Wilson. Wilson is slated to compete in the long jump, triple jump and even contribute a leg on the 4x100-meter relay. \n"I'm strong and ready to go," said Wilson. "I'm just a little nervous after not competing for so long."\nJunior thrower Ryan Ketchum also has a busy weekend ahead of him. He left for Florida Wednesday and will compete in the shot put, discuss and hammer throw.\nStanford provides several athletes with an early opportunity to get NCAA Regional and even Olympic Trials qualifying marks out of the way. The regional qualifying times are slower than the NCAA Indoor qualifying times due to the one-year-old Regionals-Nationals format. Athletes must first qualify to run in an NCAA Regional meet, where they earn the chance to race for a spot at the NCAA Championships. \nNewly-crowned NCAA mile champion sophomore Sean Jefferson will race the 1,500-meters, aiming to feed off his big victory for energy to propel his legs to an Olympic Trials qualifying time. \n"If I run 3:41 or so, I should get into NCAAs no matter what else happens," said Jefferson. "Plus, it'll get both the NCAA and Olympic Trials qualifying marks out of the way."\nJunior All-American Chris Powers will compete in the 5,000-meters, while training partner sophomore Stephen Haas, who qualified provisionally in the 5,000-meters for the NCAA Indoor Championships but fell short of the final cut-off, will shift gears slightly and race the longest track event, the 10,000-meters.\n"If I can run what I'm seeded at, 29:10, I should get in to NCAAs," said Haas. "Last year, 29:18 got in, but it'll probably take faster."\n-- Contact staff writer Rob DeWitte at rdewitte@indiana.edu.