Hoosiers pound Purdue in meet

IU finished its final dual meet of the season by trouncing in-state arch rival Purdue 108-76. The Hoosiers put on a dominant display, winning 14 of 18 total events. \n"Today, the guys showed up and proved they wanted to score some points," said IU coach Randy Heisler. "Looking at the whole team, our guys are getting there."\nBoth junior All-American Aarik Wilson and sophomore All-American David Neville had double victories. Wilson took both the long and triple jumps while Neville swept the 200-meter and 400-meter dashes. \nOther Hoosiers claiming victories over the Boilermakers included sophomore thrower Ryan Ketchum, who took the discus with a mark of 52.87 meters. IU decathlete junior Jake Wiseman won the javelin, uncorking a heave of 61.58 meters. Junior Russell Hollis claimed the 800-meter title, winning in 1:51.98. IU junior Nathan Purcell and senior Nathan Gooden took the top two spots in the 1500-meters, cruising in nearly side-by-side. Purcell got the victory in 3:58.09 with Gooden at 3:58.16. \n"The weather was great," said Purcell. "I didn't feel very good today but we were still able to control the race from start to finish."\nSeveral other Hoosiers spent Friday night getting valuable Olympic Trials experience in Palo Alto, Calif., at Stanford's Cardinal Invitational. \nLeading the IU charge was senior All-American Chris Powers, who set a monstrous 12-second personal best in the 5,000-meters, crossing the finish line at 13:48.45, which places him fourth on IU's all-time list behind Olympians Terry Brahm, Jim Spivey and American record holder Bob Kennedy. The mark assured his first bid to the NCAA Outdoor Championships and left him with a good shot at competing at the Olympic Trials.\n"I was confident going into this meet, I had a feeling it was time to run fast," said Powers, who averaged roughly 4:25 per mile. "I felt smooth through the two-mile in 8:50 and really rolled the last kilometer."\nIU junior Tom Burns crept closer to qualifying for the Olympic Trials, as well, shaving another three seconds off his personal best to finish in 8:42.35 in the 3,000-meter Steeplechase. The time leaves him three-tenths of a second short of the Olympic Trials 'B' Standard, but will likely qualify him for the meet.\n"I ran even the entire race," said Burns. "We're going to sit down and evaluate whether we want to keep chasing the qualifying time."\nIU is back in action at home Friday for the Billy Hayes Invitational. The Big Ten Championships follow one week later. \n-- Contact staff writer Rob DeWitte at rdewitte@indiana.edu.