The IU track and field team had six athletes advance to the NCAA Championships after competing in the East Regionals held in Lexington, Kentucky May 25-27.
The top-12 athletes from both the East and the West regional will come together for the national meet in Eugene, Oregon June 8-10. Coach Ron Helmer said he was very pleased with the Hoosiers that competed and advanced through the difficult competition level.
“You start out as one of 96 and you come out of the weekend being one of 24,” Helmer said. “Everybody who qualified is really good and made it through because of their performances over the weekend. It’s not like someone had a good performance early on and are now off their game, everyone is on at this point.”
Redshirt seniors Sydney Clute and Jason Crist were the only upperclassmen on IU who advanced. Clute earned a runner-up finish in the pole vault for her clearance of 4.20m (13-9.25). Crist made a huge push at the end of the 5,000m run to finish sixth with a time of 14:07.93.
Both athletes successfully extended their seasons and careers as Hoosiers. Helmer said these two have been great role models for other teammates to learn from.
“Our more mature athletes over the years have stayed true to the mission, stayed on task, took care of themselves and as a result, took care of us,” Helmer said. “Sydney and Jason are absolutely examples of people who always showed up and gave everything they had. They couldn’t be more deserving among this group.”
The other four members in the group advancing are sophomores Willie Morrison and Eric Bethea, freshman William Session and redshirt sophomore Katherine Receveur. Helmer said the future is bright due to the young and talented athletes on the team.
“That’s four outstanding athletes that we are going to have for at least two more years as we build around them and have them lead us,” Helmer said. “Then we add Daniel (Kuhn) and some other people back in and it starts to get exciting, but I couldn’t be more proud of the two fifth-year kids who are doing exactly what they stayed around to do.”
IU’s young sophomores got the job done in the field events. After sitting out the Big Ten meet due to injury, Bethea came back to narrowly make the cut in the triple jump competition. His distance of 15.63m (51-3.5) put him in 11th place and defeated the next two jumpers by just one centimeter.
Morrison will be making his second trip to the outdoor national meet after advancing last year as a freshman. He broke his own school record in the shot put with a mark of 19.69m (64-7.25). The throw put him in first at the time, but would later be outdone and Morrison settled for second place.
After failing to advance in the 1,500m run, Receveur went on to finish sixth in the 5,000m run and secure her spot in the upcoming NCAA Championships. She never dropped below tenth place and recorded a time of 16:11.57.
The youngest Hoosier to advance was freshman William Session. He qualified due to a third place finish in the second heat of the 110m hurdle quarterfinals. His time of 13.92 was a career best and good enough to put him at eighth in the IU record books.
“It took a really good effort from him to get there,” Helmer said. You only get to go to this meet one time as a first-timer. When you go as a freshman, you have everything to gain and nothing to lose. You’re going to gain experience, confidence and motivation that will hopefully help you next go around.”
The surviving Hoosiers will compete one last time this season when the NCAA Championships begin on June 8. Helmer said the national meet is made up of the top-24 athletes making it an extremely tough competition.
“Eight people score so that’s the ultimate goal,” Helmer said. “Score some points and make the first team All-American team. It’s just a matter of challenging yourself against the best people in the country and trying to beat as many of them as you can.”
Helmer said the volume of workouts for his team has lessened as the season nears its end, but he said he still believes their legs are in perfect shape to compete.
“They’ve worked really hard and are very fit,” Helmer said. “Now it’s more about getting themselves in a good place mentally and emotionally so that they can maximize their physical preparation. A lot of it is just reassuring them that everything is fine and that everything is in place for them to do something special.”
