2 championships in team's radar

Junior distance runner Jessica Gall may have already qualified for the NCAA Championships, but the rest of the Hoosiers will have to get there a different way.\nThat way will be this weekend's Women's Big Ten Indoor Championships held by Michigan, which will begin 10 a.m. Saturday. \nOf the 11 teams in the conference, three of those schools are in the top 25 in the USATF Power Rankings. Penn State leads the pack at the No. 3 spot, followed by Minnesota at No. 9 and Wisconsin at No. 17.\nBut IU coach Randy Heisler said he isn't concerned about the rankings.\n"Those rankings are based on how many points those teams are expected to get at the NCAA's," Heisler said, "Our team isn't taking many people. We're just going to go out there with who we have and score as many points as possible."\nFour Hoosier athletes are seeded in their respective events as well as a relay team, and the Hoosiers will be looking to these athletes to bring in the points.\n"We're lacking in some events," sophomore Stacey Clausing said. "But the people we are bringing are strong in their events. So we'll do well with what we have."\nClausing is seeded third in the 400-meter dash with a time of 54.85 and fifth in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.14. Clausing also leads the squad in wins with nine first-place victories. She has won the 200 and 400 twice this year.\nGall owns the No. 1 in the 5,000-meter run with her NCAA-qualifying time of 16:03.47 and is seeded fifth in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 9:30.92. \nSophomores Lorian Price and Courtney Johnson are aiming for high-place finishes in the 60-meter hurdles. Johnson enters the event with a third seed and Price enters fourth with times of 8.45 and 8.53, respectively. \nPrice is also seeded third in the long jump with a distance of 6.08 meters. \nSenior Ara Towns is seeded in two events as well. She heads into the conference meet with the fourth best time of in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.50 and the 13th-best time in the 200-meter dash with a time of 24.72.\n"Everyone (in the conference) is running around the same times, so it's just a matter of who shows up on Big Ten day," Towns said. \nThe 4x400 team of sophomore Michele Huber, junior LaDonna Ray, senior Charlene Maddox, and Clausing is the same relay team that is the defending conference champion. The team is seeded third for this year's indoor championships. \nIU has won the Big Ten championship three times -- most recently in 2000 when it set a record for most points scored at the conference championships with 150. IU has placed second seven times and third on five different occasions.\n-- Contact Staff Writer John Fischer at jbfische@indiana.edu.