Helmer not fazed by expectations for IU squad

IU coach Ron Helmer isn’t going to let the No. 6 IU track and field team’s success overhype its expectations.

Going into the NCAA Indoor Championships Friday in Texas, IU brings three students who recently earned Great Lakes Athlete of the Year honors, in addition to Helmer, who was named Great Lakes Coach of the Year by the United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association.

He said his team must compete with realistic results in mind.

“The best way to succeed is to lower expectations,” Helmer said of his team. “They need to understand that they don’t have to perform a superhuman feat.”

Although IU sophomore Andy Bayer, senior Faith Sherrill and junior Derek Drouin might not put up superhuman numbers, they have excelled this season by putting up numbers that have helped give the team a top-10 ranking throughout the season.  

Sherrill said she was pressured to do better this season after winning All-American honors last year, as well as winning her event in the shot put at the Big Ten championships in Lafayette.

While Sherrill tries to repeat her success this year, Bayer said he is just coming into his own.

“After cross country season I just put into my mind what I needed to do this year,” said Bayer, who was named the men’s Big Ten Track Athlete of the Year. “The Big Ten meets were helpful in letting me know what to expect from myself.”

Although the expectations for Bayer were slowly creeping over the horizon at the Gladstein Fieldhouse, Helmer said Bayer’s progression since high school was staggering.

“Bayer wasn’t very good in high school,” Helmer said. “He didn’t become the whole package until he started doing well on the track. And the kid is so unassuming, and I love it because there is nothing like an athlete accepting being great and then doing great.”