That’s because even with the individual titles, the men’s team finished seventh and the women’s team finished 10th. Although many Hoosiers scored points, only seven athletes had top three finishes.
Helmer cited some bad luck, including a bizarre collision in the women’s mile that tripped IU senior Brianna Johnson and sophomore Brenna Calder. He said they were both running well enough to score points, but the collision caused them to finish ninth and 10th respectively.
“We’re not scoring enough points on the women’s side right now — on either side, but particularly the women’s side — to be able to absorb that without it really affecting us,” Helmer said. “Those points there definitely would’ve made things look more like we had expected them to.”
Sophomore Daniel Kuhn won the conference title in the 600 meter. His 1:16.02 time broke his own school record and is fourth in NCAA history.
Kuhn’s season was already historic, as he set the school record in the 800 meter twice. Entering the year, his goal was to make the podium at Big Tens, he said. But as the season played out, he shifted his attention toward becoming a champion.
“It definitely took a while to soak in,” Kuhn said. “It was just so surreal. Helmer just said congratulations and shook my hand with a big smile on his face. That says a lot coming from Coach Helmer, when he’s a man of few words and says something like that.”
The other champion was senior Sydney Clute in the pole vault. Clute also set a new school record when she reached 4.35 meters. Clute moved up into a tie for 10th in the country, so she’ll qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships for the first time in her career.
Clute said winning the conference title was bittersweet since it’s her final indoor season, but she’s focused and excited for nationals.
“We get a weekend off here, so that’s really nice to have a really solid week of practice and get in a couple more jump days to work on a couple more things before nationals,” Clute said.
Junior Nakel McClinton finished third in the weight throw. She’s currently 15th in the country, which would qualify her for nationals. Senior Dylan Anderson earned second place in the heptathlon. He finished with 5,663 points, third in school history.
His performance kept him in qualifying position at 16th in the country. Kuhn is 19th in the country in the 800. However, if athletes ahead of him are scratched, he’d qualify for nationals.
Helmer acknowledged Kuhn could’ve lowered his time into qualifying range if he ran the 800 instead of the 600 at Big Tens. But Helmer said he thought it was worth it for Kuhn to become a conference champion.
The women’s distance medley relay team finished fourth with a time of 11:24.59, ninth in school history. Junior Matt Schwartzer took fourth in the 5000 meter in 14:06.14, also ninth in school history. Junior Jason Crist finished third in the 3000 meter, and senior Rorey Hunter finished second in the mile.
Helmer’s biggest uncertainty before Big Tens was how the freshmen would handle the bigger stage. He said he was happy with their performances. Willie Morrison finished seventh in the shot put, Treyton Harris took seventh in the long jump, and Eric Bethea finished third in the triple jump.
For the women, no points were scored by freshmen in individual events. But Helmer said he was pleased with Harris in the 800 meter and her twin Haley in the mile. He also said Riley Egbula and Taylor Williams ran well in the 4x400 relay.
