Hoosiers hit the road for first time this year

While the Hoosiers will leave Bloomington for the first time this season to compete, one IU athlete will be going home. \nThe Hoosiers will travel to South Bend, somewhere very familiar to IU junior Caitlin Lauer. That is because Lauer grew up in the town, about two blocks from the campus of Notre Dame, where competition will take place Friday and Saturday in the Meyo Invite. \nEven with family and friends coming to the competition, Lauer said she is not nervous. \n“It makes me excited,” she said.\nLauer said she is looking forward to her family getting the opportunity to see her progression from high school to college. \nLauer will lead off in the the distance medley relay Friday night in an effort to help her relay team qualify for the NCAA meet and set a new IU school record. She will run 1200 meters before handing it off to teammates who will run 400, 800 and 1600 meters, respectively.\nThe junior will be joined by Audrey Smoot, Molly Beckwith and Wendi Robinson. The group will look to run under 11:32 to provisionally qualify for the NCAA championships. The relay team could also break the school record of 11:25.16, set last year by a team that included Lauer and Beckwith. \nLauer is not the only IU athlete that will have family present to support her this weekend. IU sophomore high jumper Ashley Rhoades is from nearby Columbia City, Ind., and is expecting almost a dozen family and friends to come cheer her on.\n“I’m excited,” she said. “None of my extended family has seen me jump.” \nThe Invite will take place at the Loftus Center on Notre Dame’s campus, a facility that varies significantly from the Gladstein Fieldhouse. IU’s home track is a raised, or banked, track measuring 200 meters. The track in South Bend is a flat surface and is longer, at 320 meters. Most outdoor tracks measure 400 meters. \nIU coach Ron Helmer thinks the track at Notre Dame will allow for fast times. Helmer said it will be like running outdoors. Another difference due to the track size is additional events, which are common in the Big East conference. There will be a 300-meter dash, 500-meter run and 1,000-meter run.\nHelmer also thinks the change in environment and traveling away from home will be positive for his team. \nThe main reason for his theory is that the team will be able to focus solely on competing and not on distractions that come up at home. IU senior sprinter Jacob Moylan said he is also looking forward to getting away from IU’s campus. \n“It’s nice to experience something a little different,” he said. \nMoylan said he thinks he and his teammates will be in a better mindset in South Bend. He said the team sometimes can get complacent from having the same daily routine, and that they will be able to focus better having only one reason to be there, to compete.\nLauer is excited to return to the campus where she almost became a student. Before making her final college decision, Lauer had narrowed her decision down to IU and Notre Dame. Three years later, Lauer said she is happy to be a Hoosier.\n“I came down to Bloomington and fell in love with everything here,” she said.