High jumper returns to team in time for Texas Relays

A prominent member of the men’s track team is returning for IU Coach Ron Helmer and the Hoosiers, as 2011 National Field Athlete of the Year high jumper Derek Drouin will be competing in the event for the first time this season at the Texas Relays in Austin, Texas.

Drouin said he is more than ready to get back to business.

“I’m excited,” Drouin said. “If you would have asked me a few months ago, I would have been more nervous than anything, but I feel like I’m ready.”

Drouin competed in the javelin throw at last weekend’s Big Ten/SEC Challenge and said he did not feel pressured to perform well, but that will change this weekend with the Ontario native returning to his main event.

“It’ll be a lot different,” Drouin said. “This past weekend was fun, and it was nice to put on the Indiana jersey again. I didn’t have any expectations. But this weekend I have put a lot more pressure on myself.”

Sitting out the duration of the indoor season as a redshirt, Drouin said it will only be added motivation to achieve his desired results during the outdoor season.

“It absolutely adds some extra motivation,” Drouin said. “I am ready to go. I want to do as much as I can to score points for the team just so that we can hopefully repeat outdoors. I’m really motivated for it.”

Helmer said he is confident in Drouin and the rest of the group competing this weekend, which includes seniors sprinter Kind Butler, triple jumpers Rex Parker and Olu Olamigoke, sophomore high jumper Darius King and junior pole vaulter Kelsie Ahbe.

“They know what they’re in for,” Helmer said. “In some cases it’s their first effort of the outdoor season. It’ll give them a chance to compete against the nation’s best.”

Helmer said he does not necessarily have expectations for the redshirt junior.

“I think the best thing to do is to not have expectations for him,” Helmer said. “Let it be whatever it is, get him through a day, come out of it healthy and create a beginning point. Then we’ll (go) forward from there. His mindset is to go in and jump eight feet, but he just needs to go in and have a solid day and be confident in subsequent meets.”

Also competing outdoors for the first time this season is Ahbe, who will be rooming with former Hoosier Vera Neuenswander at the Texas Relays.

While Ahbe did not live up to her own expectations during the indoor season, she is poised to have an outstanding outdoor season.

“I’m really excited,” Ahbe said. “Indoor didn’t quite end the way I would have hoped, but I think it was a good thing because it has forced me to reset my goals and train even harder and think about what I need to do to get better.”