IU women's track took a hiatus that separated the indoor and outdoor seasons, but the Hoosiers are now back to business, preparing for a long outdoor track season.\nThe distance team will compete in the Stanford Invitational today through Sunday. The rest of the team will go to the Florida invite in Gainesville tomorrow. \n"We need to redeem our performance from this indoor season," junior sprinter Stacey Clausing said. "We are trying to improve and compete at a level we know we can."\nA promising inception would help cleanse the palate of a team who, by their account, underachieved during the indoor portion of the season, especially at the Big Ten championships.\n"The indoor Big Ten meet was a huge disappointment for our whole team because we know we are so much better than what we showed," junior distance runner Jessica Gall said. \nOne way to ensure the Hoosiers will be competitive this season is to capitalize on the opportunity to compete against the nation's best squads at the Stanford and Florida Invitationals.\n"We need tough competition to race against to get us ready for the last part of the season," Clausing said.\nThe small break between the indoor and outdoor seasons could prove valuable for IU's campaign.\n"Since indoor track ended we've been doing longer workouts, getting in more mileage, and lifting weights more often," said Gall. The past few weeks without meets have allowed us to focus on getting in quality training and to build a base for the long outdoor season that hopefully goes all the way until June."\nEven though it would be a major success for the Hoosiers to place high at the meets in Palo Alto, Calif., and Gainesville, Fla., the main goal for the athletes is to see how far they have come during the break between the two seasons. From the two meets, the coaches and athletes alike will know where some of their strengths and weaknesses lie.\n"Our goal is to go out there and use the competition to pull us along to fast times and to be competitive," said Gall. "It's our first race on the outdoor track so it will be an opportunity to gauge where our training is and to start the outdoor season off on a good foot. \n"Now it's up to us to walk the walk and prove ourselves."
From IDS Reports
This weekend marks the outset of the IU men's track and field team's outdoor season as several members of the team travel cross-country for the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif. The remaining members of the squad will venture south to compete in the Diet Pepsi Invite in Gainesville, Fla.\nThose traveling west for the Stanford Invitational will square off against the nation's foremost talent. In its 32nd consecutive year, the Nike-sponsored event perennially draws future Olympians and will feature more than 4,000 athletes in this year's contest. The illustrious list of past champions includes Gail Devers, Maurice Green and current Olympic distance star Michael Stember. \nLast year's two-day event, held at the Cobb Angell Indoor Track, produced over 200 NCAA Division One automatic or regional qualifiers and numerous meet records. \nThe Hoosiers could fare well if stars David Neville, Kiwan Lawson, Stephen Haas, and Ryan Ketchum can build on their impressive showings at the NCAA Indoor Championships.\nNeville, a junior sprinter who was given his second consecutive All-American honors last week, has carried the team with his versatility in both the 200-meter and 400-meter runs. After taking first place in these events at the Big Ten championships, Neville shattered expectations with a second-place finish at the NCAA championships. His unprecedented time of 45.58 seconds in the 400-meter run broke the IU school record in the event.\nKetchum, a senior thrower, aims to supplement his prolific four-year career at IU with continued success in the shot put and weight throw. Along with Neville, Ketchum earned All-American accolades with his ninth place showing in the NCAA championships.\nHaas, a senior distance runner, couldn't quite top his storied 2005 run in the 5000-meter, a school-record time of 13:41.41. However, he placed 15th with a mark of 14:28.18. \nOnly a sophomore, Lawson provided a preview of the Hoosier's future in the long jump, also placing 15th with a leap of 6.88 meters.\nThe 2006 Stanford Invite will be highlighted by the always popular Distance Carnival held Friday evening. As the venue reputedly offers the premier location for middle-distance and distance events, at least one qualifying mark is expected to be earned in every event.
