Split IU track team excel across country in meets

A combined 2,800 miles of travel added up to a big weekend for IU track and field.
The split team competed at opposite ends of the country, finding success — and a few surprises — in both locations.

At the Stanford Invitational in Palo Alto, Calif., Assistant Coach Rebecca Walter said junior Rorey Hunter defied the coaches’ expectations during his first ever 5K.

He won the third-fastest heat of the day, finishing in 13 minutes and 55.20 seconds.
“We almost didn’t take (Hunter) because he’s more of a miler,” Walter said. “Coach Helmer was thinking he was going to be around 14 (minutes) 15 (seconds), so he really outdid himself.”

This season is shaping up to be a career-best for Hunter, who recently led the men’s distance medley relay to a third-place finish at Indoor Nationals.

His 5K time is the fastest by an IU athlete this season, just five seconds off a top-10 program mark.

Hunter finishes on the heels of junior Evan Esselink and freshman Amanda Behnke, both of whom earned top-10 program honors for the Hoosiers.

Esselink ran the men’s 10K in 29 minutes and 28.39 seconds, securing the sixth-fastest time in school history.

Behnke joined him in the record books, crossing the women’s 5K finish line in 16 minutes and 28.83 seconds.

Her time is the 10th fastest by an IU athlete in the history of the event.

“Amanda has been steadily progressing all year,” Walter said. “She doesn’t ever have a bad race, and so slowly she just chips away at her times.”

Across the country, the rest of the team competed at the Crimson Tide Invitational in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

After fouling all three of her throws last weekend at the Texas Relays, senior Kyla Buckley stormed back to capture first place in the women’s shot put.

Buckley’s winning toss of 17.08 meters came on her final throw, setting a new meet record at the Crimson Tide Invitational.

Senior Arianne Raby also took first for the Hoosiers, completing the women’s 1,500-meter race in four minutes and 27.14 seconds.

Chipping in with top-five finishes were freshman Tre’tez Kinnaird and sophomores Cornelius Strickland, Jordan Gornall and Sydney Clute.

Associate Head Coach Jeff Huntoon said the top athletes in Tuscaloosa have consistently performed well throughout season.

“We’ve got a lot of work to do,” he said. “The kids that finished up indoors real well are still continuing to lead the program. We’re really young in some areas, so we’re still learning how to handle the rigors of both competing and training at a high level.”

Huntoon said the next few weeks of competition will provide more opportunities for his team to improve before the postseason.

The distance runners made strides in Palo Alto, nabbing a handful of qualifying berths to the NCAA regional meet.

“They either made it, or they’re right on the bubble,” Walter said. “Almost all of them are within a few seconds of hitting a regional time and, for a lot of them, the 5K and 10K aren’t even their main events.”