The Hoosiers took to the track this weekend for their second consecutive home meet. The IU Relays, hosted in Gladstein Fieldhouse, brought success in many different areas for the Hoosiers, IU head coach Ron Helmer explains.
“There were a lot of positives from this meet, Helmer said. "A lot of people moving forward, a lot of personal records being broken, now we just need everyone to be on that same level and work hard like that.”
The most impressive runner of the weekend, according to Helmer, was sophomore Kyle Mau who finished the mile in just 3:59.15. This is the sixth-fastest time in Hoosier history, and he is now placed at No. 2 in the Big Ten and No. 6 in the NCAA rankings.
“This is my first time being under four minutes," Mau said. "I was four flat last year so I was right on the edge of it, but it feels really good to finally get there and accomplish this.”
With this, Mau also said he is happy that he was able to accomplish this goal at the IU Relays.
“The really cool part about this is that I was able to do it at home and have all my teammates right there to cheer me on and watch me accomplish this. I was really grateful to do it here at home,” Mau said.
Helmer was very proud of his team this weekend and especially proud of what Mau accomplished in the mile.
“There were a lot of things in this meet that really impressed me, like Mau’s mile, anytime you break four minutes in the mile, that's a big deal, that’s what every miler wants to do, and he did it in spectacular fashion I think,” Helmer said.
In the same race, junior Joe Murphy was able to take third with a time of 4:04.08.
The Hoosiers were victorious in multiple other events during this weekend, both on track and the field.
Freshman Teddy Browning took first place in the 800-meter dash with the time of 1:50.97, which earned him the No. 4 spot in the Big Ten rankings. Sophomore William Session won the 60-meter hurdles finals with the time of 7.93 and freshman Zubin Muncherji won the men’s 400-meter with the time of 48.64.
The men’s 4x400-meter relay team consisting of freshman Isaiah Ware, Senior Daniel Kuhn, junior Derek Grimmer and Muncherji finished first with the time of 3:13.86.
Helmer is hoping for this type of success in the upcoming meet when the Hoosiers travel to Ann Arbor, Michigan for the Power 5 Invitational.
“As a team we start to get really, really good when we get everyone's contribution at a high level," Helmer said. "Now is the time when it’s really starting to come together as we will see in the next couple meets.”
