Hoosiers get in final prep for Big Ten after solid performances

This weekend's Billy Hayes Invitational provided the IU men's track and field team with a chance to get some final competitive preparation before next weekend's Big Ten outdoor championships at Purdue. The meet saw several personal bests and a number of performances that should bode well for IU.\n"It's usually a good meet for those competing," IU coach Randy Heisler said. "The addition of (Herana-Daze) Jones and (Courtney) Roby will strengthen our sprinting at Big Ten's."\nIn their first outdoor meet of the year, senior football players Jones and Roby contributed to IU's winning 4x100-meter relay team. Roby also finished fourth in the 100-meters in 10.7 seconds.\nBeyond Roby's track career, he starts as a wide receiver on the football team and has led the Hoosiers in receiving each of the past two seasons and Jones, the starter at strong safety, earned honorable mention All-Big Ten honors last season, finishing second on the team with 96 tackles. \nIU's other relay, the 4x400, provided one of the highlights of the evening. After a slow start, the baton was handed to sophomore All-American, David Neville. Neville roared around the track to hand IU the lead, which sophomore Andre Grimes solidified en route to a seasonal best, 3:09.86.\n"Neville was absolutely unbelievable," senior Chris Powers said, who took the weekend off to prepare for Big Ten's. "He's a serious talent and he's only getting better."\nHeisler said before the meet that one of the goals for the team was to get athletes who were near regional qualifying marks to qualify. Prior to the long jump, freshman Kiwan Lawson, who was third at the Big Ten indoor championships, was within two centimeters of the regional standard. Friday afternoon provided Lawson the chance he needed, as he pulled out a regional qualifying leap of 7.49 meters. \nIU also got an encouraging performance from sophomore Stephen Haas, who set a new personal best in the 1500-meters with a photo finish second place effort against IU volunteer assistant Chris Ekman. Haas finished in 3:49.73, equivalent to a 4:06 mile.\n"It was good to get in some speedwork before Big Ten's," said Haas. "I'll probably be running the 5K and 10K so a fast 1500 gives me confidence in my footspeed."\nIU also got good work from its throwing corps. Sophomore Ryan Ketchum set an outdoor personal best in the shot put, finishing second with a heave of 18.71 meters. Senior Mike Minton finished fifth in the event with a mark of 17.06 meters. \nThe Big Ten Championships begin Friday evening at Purdue University's outdoor track in West Lafayette.\n-- Contact staff writer Rob DeWitte at rdewitte@indiana.edu.