Around The Game

Hoosier track stars punctuate weekend\nThe men's track team split the weekend between three different meets and all three provided strong results. \nAt college track's most prestigious relay carnival, the Penn Relays, junior All-American Aarik Wilson took home the long jump with a leap of 7.56 meters. Also at Penn, junior thrower Ryan Ketchum took seventh in the shot put with a put of 17.57 meters and third in the discus with a throw of 51.45 meters. \nAt the Drake Relays, IU junior Jake Wiseman notched a personal best 7,037 points in the decathlon -- good for third behind two professional athletes. The score ranks him third in the Big Ten. \nAt Purdue, IU dominated the men's hurdles as freshman Stephanos Ioannou won the 110-meter hurdles with a time of 14.49 and sophomore Kevin Kempf won the 400-meter hurdles in 54.03. \nSoftball splits series with Big Ten foes\nThings didn't start off as planned this weekend as the IU softball team started its four-game road swing. The Hoosiers (27-27, 3-10 Big Ten) met up with a Northwestern team (25-14, 8-6) that was rolling with a six game win-streak. \nIn the first game, the Wildcats downed IU with a score of 11-1 in only five innings. \nThe Hoosiers regrouped in the second game Saturday to squeeze out the victory against the Wildcats, 5-4. \nMichigan State played host to the Hoosiers in a double header Sunday, beating the Hoosiers 6-4 in the first game before IU responded with a 8-3 win in game two.\nFinal round fade ties Hoosiers for third\nAfter beginning Sunday's final round in second at the First Energy Intercollegiate at Firestone Country Club, the IU men's golf team was looking forward to a competitive final round. \nIU finished eight strokes behind tournament champion Xavier and six behind runner-up Toledo.\nIU was confident entering the final round because of a strong first-day showing. The Hoosiers shot 282 in round one, tying Kent State for the lead. A second-round charge by the Golden Flashes put IU three strokes off the lead after two rounds, yet confidence remained high.\nJunior Heath Peters and Overton finished among six players tied for third with 214, and Siebert finished three strokes out of the top 20. But, with three players in the water, the Hoosier's hopes were effectively dashed on the 17th hole.\nFor more men's golf coverage, check out www.idsnews.com/sports.\nSteeplechasers run well at Penn Relays\nThe IU women's track and field team traveled north and east this weekend with athletes competing at the Big Ten Invitational at Purdue and the Penn Relays in Philadelphia.\nAt the Penn Relays, sophomore Kelly Siefker and senior Audrey Giesler competed in the 3,000-meter steeplechase, setting NCAA regional qualifying marks. a\nSophomore Andrea Dalla Rosa threw a NCAA regional qualifying mark in the shot put with a distance of 44.55 meters.\nAt the Big Ten Invitational, freshman Courtney Johnson won the 100-meter hurdles in 14.15, and junior Ashley Groth won the 800-meter run in 2:14.52.\nAfter two weeks of road trips, the Hoosiers return home for the next two weekends, with the first meet being the annual dual-meet with Purdue at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex.\nWomen's tennis knocks Big Ten rivals\nThe No. 25 IU women's tennis team closed out its regular season in style, getting two conference wins by upsetting No. 16 Illinois 4-3 Saturday and downing a pesky Purdue team 4-3 Sunday afternoon on Senior Day.\nSenior Linda Tran and sophomore Sarah Batty began the No. 1 doubles contest by falling behind 4-0 before rallying to knock off the No. 15 ranked Jennifer McGaffigan and Cynthya Goulet. From there, the bottom three singles positions responded to the switch in momentum, when senior Karie Schlukebir and freshmen Laura McGaffigan and Cecile Perton won their way to the team's fourth major upset.\nAgainst Purdue, the Hoosiers again found themselves down, needing the final three matches to net their ninth Big Ten win. \nWith its second win on the weekend, IU (17-6, 9-1 Big Ten) shares the Big Ten regular season title with Northwestern but will begin the Big Ten Championships as the No. 2 seed.\nBaseball team splits series with Illinois\nThe Hoosiers earned another split this weekend with a win over Illinois Sunday. IU (23-17, 7-9 Big Ten) pounded the Fighting Illini for 19 hits and five home runs on its way to a 17-8 victory.\nIn the series opener Friday, the Hoosiers used good defense and pitching to hold Illinois to just two runs. Senior pitcher Nick Vitielliss (4-2) earned the win after giving up only two runs through five innings while striking out three batters in a 9-2 win.\nSaturday's doubleheader was not kind to the Hoosiers, as they lost both games by a combined three runs. The Fighting Illini won game one 3-1 on the strength of a three-run home run in the fourth inning. Game two of Saturday's doubleheader was decided in the bottom of the seventh inning when right fielder Vince DiMaria singled up the middle with the bases loaded, giving the Fighting Illini a 3-2 win.\nIU drops 2, finishes fourth in Big Ten\nThe No. 59 men's tennis team (11-11, 5-5 Big Ten) went into last weekend's road trip hoping to pick up at least one victory to ensure a top five seed in the Big Ten Tournament. IU was unable to snag a victory and, as a result, finished in a three-way tie for fourth in the conference. \nAwaiting IU Sunday was No.1 Illinois (25-0, 10-0) and its high octane lineup.\nThe Hoosiers had a reshuffling of lineups, with players moving into new positions and new doubles combinations being formed. The change didn't help, as they were dealt a 7-0 loss. \nIU will resume play when it travels to Michigan State at East Lansing, Mich., to participate in the Big Ten tournament, with the opponent to be announced.