Track athletes vie for NCAA bid

The men’s and women’s track teams sent select members who were on the cusp of going to nationals to South Bend this weekend as a part of the Alex Wilson Invitational held at Notre Dame. \nThe women sent their distance medley team, another distance runner and two hurdlers, while the men’s team sent its 4-by-400-meter relay team.\nThe women’s distance medley team ran its strongest time of the year at 11:25.16. The time was fast enough to beat the school record of 11:41.99 set in 2002. However, the time was not fast enough to be considered for the NCAA indoor national championships as it places the team 22nd in the nation.\n“It was a really good effort,” women’s interim head coach Judy Wilson said. “We just wanted to see what we could do; we knew we were going to break the school record.”\nThe relay team comprised senior Stacey Clausing and sophomores Caitlin Lauer, Molly Beckwith and Wendi Robinson.\n“I was happy with our time – that was our goal,” Clausing said. “We knew we had to run faster for nationals, so we were happy to break the record.”\nSenior distance runner Lindsay Hattendorf also ran this weekend. She ran a time of 16:50.29, finishing fourth in the women’s 5,000-meter run.\n“Lindsey ran the 3,000- and the 5,000- last weekend at the Big Tens,” Wilson said. “So to turn around and run another 5,000 only five days later was very difficult.”\nSenior Courtney Johnson finished first in the finals of the 60-meter hurdles after posting a personal best of 8.39 seconds in the preliminaries. Johnson’s time ranks fifth all-time at IU. Her teammate senior Lorian Price was second after the preliminaries with a time of 8.46 seconds. Price did not run in the finals.\n“Courtney had a good race, she was just slow in her start,” Wilson said. “She was hurt for part of the year so we are happy with what she has been able to do.”\nThe men’s team sent its 4-by-400-meter relay team, which edged out Purdue’s team in the final event of the Big Ten Indoor championships last weekend, vaulting IU ahead of its rival in the overall standings. The team ran a time of 3:12.82 this weekend, finishing eighth and falling short of their goal to qualify for nationals. \nThe team comprised juniors Doug Dayhoff and Ryan Smith, senior Trey Warfield and sophomore Martin Stephen.\nThis weekend’s invitational marked the end of the indoor season for the two squads. IU will be sending a few athletes to the indoor nationals next weekend, however, and will find out today who those athletes will be. The three athletes that are likely to go are senior Kiwan Lawson, junior Kyle Jenkins and freshman Vera Neuenswander. \nAccording to www.trackshark.com, Lawson ranks No. 7 nationally in the long jump, Jenkins ranks No. 11 in the triple jump, and Neuenswander is the highest ranking freshman pole vaulter in the nation at No. 14.\n“All in all it was a better indoor season than last year, and we are looking forward to the outdoor season,” Wilson said. \nThe outdoor season begins March 30 as the squads travel to the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif.