Women’s squad wins invite

As the last of the Schwinn tires crossed the finish line in the Men’s Little 500 at Bill Armstrong Stadium, the lights flickered on next door. The IU track and field teams were competing in the Indiana Invitational at the Robert C. Haugh Track & Field Complex during the weekend.

The Hoosiers were host to three other teams, including Indiana State, Michigan State and Missouri. Under the lights and raindrops Saturday, the Hoosiers finished day one in the lead on both the men’s and women’s side of the competition.

The distance runners continued their impressive performances for IU in both the men’s and women’s 1,500-meter run. IU junior Ben Hubers crossed the finish line first at 3:52.73, with Andy Weatherford and Daniel Stockberger coming in second and third, respectively. For the IU women, Chelsea Blanchard won with a time of 4:28.84 and Brianne Ehrman came in second.

“The goal this weekend was to go out and race. We were not going out to hit times because the conditions were not that great,” Hubers said. “As far as race execution goes, (this weekend) was just about perfect.”

Coming off two-straight Big Ten Athlete of the Week honors, IU pole-vaulter Vera Neuenswander tasted victory once again. The weather conditions forced the pole-vaulters to jump inside in much better conditions. Neuenswander’s highest clearance of the night was marked at 4.20 meters. Kelsie Ahbe’s performance took second for the Hoosiers with a clearance of 4.10 meters.

“The conditions were perfect inside,” Neuenswander said. “The wind and the rain were too much for the pole-vault outside.”

Headed into the final day of competition, Indiana looked to finish right where it left off.  
Aireonna Bailey led the women Sunday with two impressive performances. First, she won the 100-meter dash with the only time under 12 seconds at 11.93. An hour later, Bailey lined up for the 200-meter race. Once again, she crossed first, this time with in 24.05 seconds.

The 400-meter contest saw the seventh-best time in IU history from Kind Butler. His time of 46.37 not only won the meet, but it also ranks 18th nationally and second in the Big Ten this outdoor season. Butler finished the afternoon anchoring the Hoosiers 4x400-meter relay.

The Hoosiers came from behind to win, clocking a time of 3:11.73. They won the overall competition by 28 points against second place Michigan State.

The Hoosiers’ and Spartans’ women’s teams were tied going into the final event Sunday — the 4x400-meter relay. After 3:41.09, anchor Ann-Marie Clarke crossed the finish line in first place giving the Indiana women the overall meet victory with a final score of 203.5. The Spartans finished only 2.5 points behind at 201 points.

“I felt like (our team) built through the weekend, and we went out and competed very well,” IU coach Ron Helmer said.