Weather, injuries slow team down

Technical difficulties, fluctuating weather and an injured roster did not provide IU with the greatest conditions for the second annual Indiana Relays, but the show went on anyway in Bloomington.\nOn Friday, the depleted IU squad endured a 45-minute delay due to timing and scoreboard equipment problems, cold air and a steady drizzle. The Hoosiers wrapped up action Saturday in a heavy wind taking a third-place finish with 110 points.\n"Like I said coming into the meet, I knew we had a bunch of injuries and we were also very young," said IU coach Randy Heisler. "I would have liked to see us do a little better, but we worked with what we had and did the best we could. Hopefully we can get some of these athletes back and we can rebound for some of our upcoming meets."\nCentral Michigan University won the Indiana Relays with 140 points, and Army came in second with 129.\nLeading the way for the Hoosiers in points was sophomore Lorian Price and freshman Zakiya Robinson. Price competed in three events and Robinson competed in four. \nPrice took second place in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 14.62 seconds, third place in the long jump with a leap of 5.48 meters, and ran a leg in the second place four by 100-meter relay. \n"The biggest competition is getting over the hump of the first meet," Price said. "Physically, competing in so many events is tough but we're training for that. Mentally, it's been even tougher because personally I wanted a better start to my season in the long jump and the hurdles."\nRobinson also ran a leg in the 4x100-meter relay, and placed second in the long jump with a leap of 5.54 meters. She also placed sixth in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.47 seconds, and captured seventh in the 200-meter dash for a time of 25.16 seconds. \n"Personally what I'm doing right now isn't where I want to be," Robinson said. "But I know that later on I can see myself progressing as I hope to be doing better in all of my events that I compete in." \nSenior Larra Overton was the only Hoosier to capture a first place finish Friday night, winning the 1500-meter run. Her time was 4:30.06.\nOn Saturday, senior Ara Towns bounced back from injuries during the indoor season and took home first place in the 100-meter dash for a time of 12.05. Sophomore Stacey Clausing captured first place in the 200-meter dash in 23.97 seconds, just barely missing the NCAA regional qualifying mark of 23.96.\nThe 4x400-meter relay team won its event, as the combination of sophomore Michelle Huber, junior LaDonna Ray, senior Charlene Maddox and Clausing finished with a time of 3:50.06. \nThe Hoosiers return to action on April 9, when they travel to Eugene, Ore., to take part in a quadrangular meet, the Pepsi Invitational. Indiana will go up against Oregon, Missouri and Washington.\n-- Contact Staff Writer John Fischer at jbfische@indiana.edu.