Jefferson records best Mideast Region time

Senior John Jefferson recorded the fastest Mideast Region time of the season as he helped the Hoosiers track and field team to 14 first-place finishes, 13 personal-best marks and 10 regional qualifying times in their final tuneup before the Big Ten Championships.\nJefferson won the 1,500-meter Invitational with a NCAA regional-qualifying time of 3.41.96, which marked the fifth-fastest time by a collegiate this season. \nSenior Charles Koeppen also showed strong senior leadership as he won the 3,000-meter race with a time of 8.31.54. Sophomore Chris Honig dominated with a 13-second margin of victory in the 3,000-meter steeplechase with a time of 9:14.47.\nThe Hoosiers took three of the top spots in the 400-meter as sophomore Doug Dayhoff claimed the title with a personal-best and regional-qualifying time of 47.14.\nIU caught a glimpse of what its future may hold as a quartet of Hoosiers who will be on next year's squad swept both the relay events on the men's side. Dayhoff teamed with junior David Neville, sophomore Keith Heerdegen and freshman Leon Brown to claim the top spot in the men's 4x100-meter relay. The quartet's time was an NCAA regional-qualifying time of 40.62. The 4x400m team of Brown, Dayhoff, John Gunnell and Ryan Smith edged Indiana State's relay by .19 seconds. The team ran a 3:10.32, which was only .32 seconds off of the NCAA regional-qualifying time. \nThe men's side continued its underclassmen dominance as it swept the top two spots in the long jump. Sophomores Kyle Jenkins won the event with a leap of 7.30 meters (23-11.50) and sophomore Tyler Skelton followed suit with a second-place jump of 7.28 meters (23-10.75). The mark for Skelton was a personal best, while Jenkins was only .01m off his career best. \nIU found success on the women's side as well as they took home the 4x100 and 4x400 events. The 4x100-meter team of sophomore Kyndal Carr, junior Michele Huber, junior Lorian Price and junior Stacey Clausing emerged victorious with a season-best time of 45.92. The 4x400m quartet of Huber, freshman Audrey Smoot, senior LaDonna Ray and Clausing edged Vanderbilt to win the event by .63 seconds. The time of 3:44.25 was nearly five seconds faster than the Hoosiers' previous season best. \nThe Hoosiers will next compete in the Big Ten Championship on May 13-14. The event will be hosted by Michigan State.