Split squad competes on two fronts

The IU men’s and women’s track teams were sucessful at this weekend’s Drake Relays.\nThe Hoosiers’ 4-by-100 meter relay team of seniors Marcus Thigpen and Keith Heerdegen, junior Will Glover and freshman Devin Pipkin regionally qualified, winning its heat in 40.48 seconds. \nIU associate head coach Jeff Huntoon, who traveled for the first time to the Drake Relays, said he thought the sprinters did very well. \nThe men’s distance medley — a relay in which a team of four runs a 1200-meter, 400-meter, 800-meter and finish with a 1600-meter run — was another event Huntoon said he was excited to watch, especially with his team winning the race. The team of freshman Ben Hubers, junior Evan Bardach and seniors Ryan Smith and Brennon Plotner finished first with a time of 9:49.05, covering a distance of about 2.5 miles.\nHuntoon said the large crowd, which was seated less than 10 feet off the track, got very excited about the race. \n“We really whipped the crowd into frenzy,” Huntoon said. “It could not have been scripted any better.”\nSome of the athletes who did not compete in the Drake Relays traveled to Indianapolis for the Stan Lyons Invitational, hosted by Butler University.\nThe trio of sophomores, Ashley Rhoades, Faith Sherrill and Paul Haas regionally qualified in their individual events. IU assistant coach Jermaine Jones, who works with the throwers, thought they did a great job.\n“I was excited,” he said. “They took advantage of a good day.” \nSherrill, who did not throw the discus last year, won the event with a heave of almost 162 feet. Her coach, Jones, said he was surprised because Sherrill does not throw the discus much in practice and improved significantly on her high school best of 138 feet. \nRhoades competed in the high jump on Saturday at the IU-Purdue University Indianapolis track, but did not have her normal amount of time to warm up.\nWith only about 30 minutes to prepare, Rhoades was rushed and had to go right into competition in the high jump. She cleared the first height of 5 feet 3 inches, but said she became nervous as she needed three jumps to conquer the next mark, 2 inches higher.\nRhoades, who has had ankle surgery twice since her senior year of high school, did not know how good she would be coming back from an operation over the summer.\n“I hoped for the best, but expected hard times,” she said. \nAlthough it has been a struggle, after her second-place finish in the high jump and clearing the regional mark of 1.75 meters this weekend she is proud of what she has accomplished.\n“I was so happy,” she said. “It didn’t even hit me until much later that night.” \nRhoades and the Hoosiers will compete next at the Jesse Owens Invitational in Columbus, Ohio, Saturday.