IU outdistances foes

The men’s and women’s track squads capped a series of four consecutive home meets this past weekend with the Indiana Relays at Gladstein Fieldhouse.

Leading the way for the men’s team was junior distance runner Andrew Bayer, who blazed through the one mile at a clip of 3:58.23.

That mark earned Bayer the title of fastest collegiate and United States mile runner so far this season.

“I was happy with my race overall,” Bayer said. “I wish I would have run a bit faster. I was a little under a half second off my personal record, which was fine.”

Despite setting such a sterling mark in the mile, Bayer said the best is yet to come.

“I felt good about the race overall, but I think there’s a lot left in the tank,” Bayer said. “I can race a lot faster as the season goes on.”

Bayer wasn’t the only Hoosier capturing the attention of those in attendance at Gladstein Fieldhouse during the weekend.

Senior middle distance runner Ryan Hindes finished the 600 meters in a time of 1:18.75, which is .05 seconds away from the IU record.

Hindes’ time also places him fifth in the Big Ten Conference for the 600 meters.

“I am thrilled,” Hindes said. “It was great crossing the line and seeing my time, which was faster than expected. To drop down to 1:18 was great. It gives me a ton of confidence going into everything.”

Also assisting the cause were seniors De’Sean Turner and Ben Hubers, who finished just behind Bayer in the mile with times of 4:00.13 and 4:00.78, respectively.

In the sprints, senior Kind Butler finished first in the 60 meters with a time of 6.74, while freshman Nick Stoner took tenth place with a time of 6.92.

On the women’s side, the Hoosiers grabbed a number of victories in the field events, with senior thrower Monique Riddick shining in the shot put, recording a mark of 16.21 meters.

“I was really ecstatic and pretty happy with my performance. I finally got that monkey off my back,” Riddick said. “It’s been a couple weeks since I’ve thrown a good meet. I went through a slump, but my coaches helped push me through it.”

While Riddick was busy with the shot put, junior Kelsie Ahbe was easing back into the pole vault, as the meet was only her second of the season. She placed third with a height of 4.10 meters.

“I think today was a positive day,” Ahbe said. “It was a good step forward. I feel like I can build off my performance today, and it’s just doing the little things every day.”

Ahbe and her fellow Hoosiers will be in action again next weekend at the Meyo Invitational at the University of Notre Dame, the team’s first away meet of the season.