Hoosiers split team at Iowa, Pennsylvania

The IU women's track and field team sends its sprinters, jumpers, and distance runners to Philadelphia today for the prestigious Penn Relays at the University of Pennsylvania's Franklin Field. The team sends its pole vaulters to the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa.\nIU sophomore LaDonna Ray is competing in her second Penn Relays as she competed with the 4x400-meter relay team last season which finished fourth in its heat in 3 minutes, 46.56 seconds. Along with competing in the 4x200-meter relay, an event she previous has not competed in, Ray will compete in the 4x400-relay in this year's Penn Relays.\nThe 4x400-relay's best time this season is 3:42.14, and Ray said the team wants to lower the time into the 3:39 range.\n"We are trying to get to 3:39 at least, 3:38," Price said. "I just hope we do good."\nLast weekend, IU competed in Nebraska at the non-team scored Nebraska Quadrangle.\nFreshman Stacey Clausing sprinted 23.80 seconds in the 200-meter dash at Nebraska and moved up in the Big Ten season-best list for the second straight week with her regional qualifying performance. Clausing's time ties her with Penn State's Kamilah Smith for the best time in the Big Ten this season in the 200 dash.\nClausing's fellow freshman, Lorian Price, ran and jumped to two straight weeks of personal bests in the long jump and 100-meter hurdles. Price jumped 5.90-meters and ran 14.33 seconds in last weekend's Nebraska Quadrangle.\nPrice said the personal bests gives her confidence heading into the carnival atmosphere of her first Penn Relays.\n"I haven't really seen a crowd as quite as big as I heard Penn's crowd is going to be, but I don't think it will really intimidate me," Price said. "I just try to go in and focus on what I have to do as an athlete. I really don't try to focus on the crowd."\nThrough all 110 runnings of the Penn Relays, more athletes competed in this meet than at any single meet in the world. The Penn Relays are the longest uninterrupted collegiate track meet in the country with the first running of the meet drawing 5,000 fans and the attendance today tops 100,000 fans for the three-day event.\nIU sprinting coach Ed Beathea said even though the Penn Relays can be chaotic because of the many fans and the meet's long history, the meet provides great competition.\n"There is nothing to replace competition, good, bad, whatever," Beathea said. "I think it will be good for us, but the problem is we didn't get some kids in some events and it would be nice to have them in some races . . . It's not so much you worry about a good experience as much as you want them to be able to go out there and feel like they can be competitive."\n-- Contact staff writer Steve Slivka at smslivka@indiana.edu.