Hoosiers mingle with elite at Sea Ray, Mt. Sac relays

The IU men's track and field team split off this past weekend to place members in three prestigious meets across the country. While the majority of the squad headed south to Knoxville, Tenn., for the Sea Ray Relays, distance runners traveled to California for the Mt. Sac Relays and the Pomona Pitzer Invitational. The Sea Ray Relays saw four Hoosiers meet regional qualifying standards, while senior Stephen Haas turned in a record-setting performance in the 10,000-meter run at the Mt. Sac competition.\nIn its 48th consecutive year, the Mt. Sac (Mt. San Antonio College) Relays consistently feature the nation's elite track and field talent. This year was no exception, as the Arkansas Track Club posted a 38.19-second finish in the 4 x 100 meter relays -- the fastest time in the world this year. \nRain conditions hampered the meet, but Haas allowed neither the elements nor the reputation of the competition to stifle his performance. His time of 28:52.30 in the 10,000-meter established a new personal best and was good enough for third place overall. The mark etched Haas' name in the IU record books as the fastest athlete to run the event in 33 years and the second-fastest of all time.\nAt the Sea Ray Relays, seniors Eric Redman and John Jefferson performed well in their outdoor season debuts. Redman snapped the line in 3:49.79 to take eighth in the 1,500-meter, while Jefferson followed soon after in 3:53.06, good enough for 17th.\nHeld at the Tom Black Track in Knoxville, Tenn., the Sea Ray Relays proved to be a success for the Hoosiers, as junior David Neville, sophomore Kyle Jenkins, freshman Jeff Coover and senior Ryan Ketchum each boasted regional qualifying standard marks.\nFor his part, Neville snatched second in the men's 400-meter with a time of 45.75. Jenkins posted seventh in the triple jump and also notched a career best with a combined leap of 15.55 meters. Coover, whose ability garnered several first-place finishes during the indoor season, placed fourth overall in the pole vault with a mark of 5.05 meters. \nFreshman Blayne Burkholder likewise displayed IU's underclassmen jumper depth, snatching eighth place and posting a new personal best in the pole vault with a jump of 4.9 meters. Ketchum, who already owned a regional qualifying standard in the shot put, duplicated this feat in the discus with a 54.33-meter bomb, good enough for third place overall in the invitational division. \nIn the men's 400-meter hurdles, sophomore Paulie Cruickshank scored a personal best by snapping the finish line in 54.64 seconds, barely edging out teammate Ryan Smith, also a sophomore, to finish 30th overall.\nNext weekend the squad will be given a chance to rest up and condition for the outdoor season's final stretch: the Penn Relays held in Philadelphia the final weekend in April, followed by the Billy Hayes Invitational in Bloomington and the Big Ten Finals in East Lansing, Mich.