'Track' goes to Stanford while 'field' goes to Fla.

Normally when a sports team competes it competes as a single unit; however, this is not the case this weekend for IU Women's Track and Field.\nThis weekend, the IU squad will split apart and compete at two different venues for two different meets. \nThe distance runners will attend the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif., while the throwers, jumpers, sprinters and vaulters will compete at the Florida Relays in Gainesville, Fla.\nLast year at Stanford, junior Kelly Siefker beat her personal record time in the 3000-meter steeplechase by nearly 13 seconds for a fourth-place finish time of 10:28.86. Former teammate Audrey Geisler did not finish far behind with a time of 10:36.18, placing eighth. Both times passed the NCAA Regional qualifying standards.\nThe rest of the IU team is off to one of the nation's oldest annual collegiate track and field meets. The Florida Relays first began in 1939 and hosted every year except during World War II.\nThe event has grown into what is often considered to be the first major event of the collegiate outdoor track and field season, and has been the venue for several innovations such as the first all-weather track surface in 1959. \nLast year at Florida, the 4x100-meter relay placed ninth with a time of 46.37 seconds. The relay returns three athletes from last year: senior Ara Towns and sophomores Stacey Clausing and Michelle Huber. \nJunior Jean Schaffer tied for 13th in the high jump with a leap of 1.63 meters (5-04.25). Junior Andrea Dalla Rose qualified for the NCAA Regionals in the shot-put with a throw of 14.90 meters (48-10.75).\nThe 4x400-meter relay team of Huber, Clausing and sophomores Lorian Price and Courtney Johnson placed 14th with a time of 3:49.41.