Weather cripples Hoosier athletes competition

Thanks to Mother Nature, only a handful of IU's track and field athletes saw action this weekend.\nThe IU squad split, sending a small contingent of distance runners to the Stanford Invitation and the rest to the Florida Relays in Gainesville, Fla.\nWhen officials called off the 62nd annual Florida Relays due to inclement weather, only five IU sprinters completed their events. Fortunately, IU's distance trio of juniors Kelly Siefker and Jessica Gall and sophomore Lindsay Hattendorf saw more success.\nSiefker ran a personal record time of 10 minutes 24.69 seconds in the 3,000-meter steeplechase passing the NCAA Regional qualifying mark of 10:52.04. The time is currently second fastest in school history. \n"I definitely just went out there and competed," Siefker said. "I didn't have a game plan -- it's just racing and competing with the competition."\nHattendorf also ran a personal record time in the 5,000-meter run with a time of 16:40 and also qualified for the NCAA Regionals.\n"My time was a 13-second (personal record) from my freshman year and Stanford is a great meet to do that at and qualify for regionals," Hattendorf said. "I've come to realize that all I need to do is run. I don't want to think too much and just do it."\nHattendorf was in second place after the first lap. The second lap was slower than she wanted, so she took the lead and kept it until the 3K mark. However, her 5:20 mile pace was not fast enough for a win, and she finished seventh.\n"We split up because the competition was a lot stronger for distance events at Stanford than at the Florida Relays," Siefker said. "The stronger competition gives us a better chance of running regional and NCAA qualifying times."\nThe few Hoosiers who did see action at the Florida Relays did so mostly in the 400-meter dash. \nSophomore Stacey Clausing finished fifth in her heat with a time of 55.42, sophomore Michelle Huber placed 14th with a time of 57.72 and senior Charlene Maddox finished 16th at 58.12.\nThe sprint medley team consisting of Clausing, Huber, senior LaDonna Ray and junior Larra Overton was the only relay team to see action and took home sixth place with a time of 3:56.39.\nIU returns to action next weekend when the Hoosiers play host to the Indiana Relays at Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex in Bloomington.\n-- Contact Staff Writer John Fischer at jbfische@indiana.edu.