Hoosiers hold 2nd meet, win 11 events

The IU women's track and field team played host to another open meet for the second consecutive weekend. Even though no team scores are kept during open meets, the Hoosiers still showed a strong performance by claiming first-place prizes in 11 of 30 events. \nLeading the way for the team was sophomore Lorian Price, who won both the long jump with a personal record of 5.72 meters and the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.87 seconds. \nFor the second weekend in a row, senior Ara Towns claimed the first-place prize in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.62 seconds. Towns also finished second place in the 200-meter dash with a time of 25.45.\n"After being injured last season and not competing since March of last year, I can honestly say that I have done pretty well for my first two meets of the season," Towns said, "A 7.6 in the 60-meter isn't fast enough to get to me a place in nationals, but I am sure that the time will drop in both the 60-meter and the 200-meter in the next few weeks. I have a lot of work to get done to get where I want to be by the outdoor season."\nNot only did the IU women finish strong in the sprints, but they fared well in the distance events as well. \nSenior Larra Overton set a personal record time of 5:08.22 minutes for her first-place victory in the 1-mile run, and freshman Nikki Peterson finished first with a time of 2:17.34 minutes in the 800-meter run. \n"The race was a good gauge of where I am training-wise and is a great way to find out how I need to adjust my strategy in the next few meets," Overton said, "It's always a good feeling to get that first race under your belt and have an idea of your goal-setting for the season."\nThe 4x400-meter relay team consisting of junior LaDonna Ray, sophomores Michele Huber and Stacey Clausing and upcoming freshman Zakiya Robinson continued to show its domination from last year by winning the event again this weekend with a time of 3:53.75 minutes. \nA tie in track and field is incredibly rare, but that is exactly what happened Saturday when junior Jean Schaffer and sophomore Sarah Gilleran both cleared 1.59 meters for the second-place prize. The clearance was a personal record for Gilleran. \nIn the 400-meter dash, Huber and freshman Lauren Keefe placed second and third, respectively, with times of 58.11 and 1:00.87. \nIn the 600-meter run, Clausing and Ray finished first and second respectively with times of 1:34.14 and 1:37.99.\n-- Contact Staff Writer John Fischer at jbfische@indiana.edu.