Hoosiers victorious at home meet

Just before the final event of the day, the 4x400-meter relay, IU coach Randy Heisler thought a team victory was in jeopardy. The relay squad responded, however, turning back Indiana State, Central Michigan and Southern Illinois with a regional qualifying mark of 3 minutes, 42.14 seconds, giving the Hoosiers a one point 182-181 victory over Central Michigan. \n"Things didn't go quite as well as I thought they could," Heisler said. "But at the same time, we had some good performances as well."\nThough IU had a number of wins, it was a pair of distance runners that put on the best show. \nSenior Audrey Giesler won a hotly contested 5,000-meter race, besting the field with a time of 16:44.58, which dipped under the regional qualifying standard. Sophomore Jessica Gall also qualified for the regional meet with her second place time of 16:51.01, and sophomore steeplechaser Kelly Siefker followed in fourth with a final time of 17:00.53.\n"We went out with a plan to alternate leaders for the first half of the race," Geisler said. "The second half of the race, I just felt good."\nFreshman Kristin Whitezell took the 3,000-meter steeplechase title, winning easily by a large margin in 10:48.75, which qualified her for the NCAA regional meet. \n"I'm excited to have my first steeple race go that well and qualify for regionals," Whitezell said of her steeplechase debut. \nThree other Hoosiers notched victories, as freshman Courtney Johnson won the 100-meter hurdles in a regional qualifying time of 13.84 and sophomore thrower Andrea Dalla Rosa won both the shot put (14.65 meters) and the discus (45.31 meters). Senior Jennifer Cobbina won the long jump with a mark of 5.92 meters.\nThe women also had a number of second place finishes. Freshman sprinter Stacey Clausing took second in both the 200-meter (24.26) and 400-meter (55.26). Junior Ashley Groth was runner-up in the 800-meter with a time of 2:14.73. Freshman Michele Huber was runner-up in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:03.18. Senior Lauren Chestnut was second in the triple-jump with a regional qualifying mark of 12.34 meters. Senior Ellison Tipton was second in the pole vault, clearing a height of 3.65 meters. \nIU returns to action next weekend at Nebraska. \n-- Contact staff writer Rob DeWitte at rdewitte@indiana.edu.