He leads the event by 89 points and is on pace to set a personal record, his previous record being the sixth-best in IU history.
“You better run ‘cause I’m coming for you,” a competitor says to his right.
Anderson looks over to see his roommate and fellow junior heptathlete, Stephen Keller, who trails him in second place for the ?heptathlon.
At the sound of the gun, Anderson and Keller took off.
The two took the lead from the very start until Anderson broke away midway through the race.
Anderson went on to win the event with a time of 8.33 seconds. He was trailed by none other than Keller, who posted a time of 8.61.
Anderson won five of the seven events during the weekend and claimed the second-best heptathlon performance in IU history with a score of 5,561. Keller went on to win the other two events, the high jump and the 1000 meter run, to finish with the fourth-best score in school history.
This is nothing new for the duo, as they had already owned top-10 scores in the IU record book.
“I can’t even say that he’s behind me,” said Anderson, who passed Keller’s previously third-best score in IU history. “It’s been so back-and-forth. The coaches always say pick the best guy in the Big Ten and beat him. Well, it’s pretty easy when one of the best guys is practicing with you.”
It’s an off and on thing, Keller said. If a meet or an event goes wrong for one of the pair, the other can pick him up as if the individual performance was a team ?effort.
Anderson, a 5-foot-10 athlete, had committed to New York’s West Point Academy to play football after his senior year of high school at Bloomington North in 2012.
After a full season, he gave IU track and field a call.
“I just realized that West Point was not what I wanted to do,” Anderson said. “I gave Coach Wiseman a call and asked him if he was still interested in having me on the track team.”
Keller, a 6-foot-4 high jump specialist, expected to play basketball in college.
In 2012, he led Kouts High School to its first ?class-A sectional title in 10 years with his 18 points.
“It wasn’t until I started getting really good at high jump in my junior and senior years of high school that I learned I could go to college for track,” Keller said. “As soon as I talked to Indiana, I knew that it was the right place for me.”
The two multi-sport athletes met for the first time at an introductory meeting for IU track and field.
Their teammates were around them, yet they said they were oblivious to the relationships that were about to ignite.
“I remember the first time I saw (Keller) I’m like, ‘Crap, that guy’s tall,’” Anderson said. “I thought for sure I was going to be off ?the team.”
Anderson was far from being cut from the team, though, and the two versatile athletes and 2013 Bowerman Award winner Derek Drouin became close friends.
“It was really (Anderson) and Drouin who pretty much took me in,” Keller said. “We started doing workouts and stuff, even when the coaches weren’t with us yet. It just made me realize that I had a good group to train with.”
Since IU record-holder Derek Drouin graduated in 2013, the duo trains for three to four hours every day alongside the other multi-sport athletes, such as senior Matt Gerbick and freshman Andrew Huber.
They work on developing their game in the seven events of the indoor ?heptathlon.
“We’re the first ones in and the last ones out,” ?Anderson said.
Their work is paying off, as they are currently the ?second-best heptathlon duo in the nation with a combined total of 10,998 points, the most in IU history.
They get animated during the events, Keller said. But between events, it’s imperative that they forget their performances in previous events and focus on what’s upcoming.
“I like to stay kind of mellow with some country music between events,” Keller said. “But by the time we are in the event, we’re both ?yelling.”
Anderson, the shy personality of the two, said he has learned how to let out his emotions during ?competition.
“I have the tendency to shy away and be quiet,” Anderson said. “But if I just let it out and yell just once, I’m not so nervous anymore.”
The roommates said they have a competitive balance.
They always want to top each other, but, at the same time are proud of each other’s accomplishments.
“I’m like, ‘All right, good job, man. You killed it. Now I’m going to beat you,’” Keller said of Anderson’s record-breaking performance.
IU has been trying to push a team mentality, Keller said, not just between multi-athletes but with all members of the team.
“Putting on that uniform represents a lot of things,” Anderson said. “I do it for my family, friends and coaches that got me here, but I really do it for the team.”
