The men's track and field team competed in the Hoosier Hills meet this weekend at Gladstein Field house and received some unexpected hurdles. The IU jumpers were supposed to compete in Arkansas but ran into weather issues before boarding their flight.
IU Coach Ron Helmer said their flight was never cancelled due to the weather but rather delayed, which proved to be just as much of a deterrent.
“The flight out of Indianapolis was delayed and the team was not going to make their connection,” Helmer said. “There were no other flights going into Arkansas for the weekend that would have gotten then there in time to complete.”
The athletes came back to Bloomington and registered for the Hoosier Hills instead. While many were upset by not being able to compete in Arkansas, Helmer said they still made the most of it.
This includes junior Treyton Harris in the long jump. Harris was able to move up in the rankings, putting himself in a position to be selected to compete in the NCAA Championship meet.
"Treyton was awesome, he jumped 7.86 meters in the long jump and moved to number five in the country with that jump," Helmer said. "It was his best of all time. He absolutely took advantage of the meet no matter where he was."
As for the meet, Harris placed first in the long jump. Also on the field, in the high jump, senior Paul Galas finished second by clearing 2.10 meters.
On the track, sophomore William Sessions took first place in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 7.86 seconds.
More top individual performances came from junior Derek Grimmer who took first place in the 400-meter dash in 49.39 seconds, while freshman Marcus Ellington placed first in the mile in 4:15.07.
IU ran and won the 4x400-meter relay in 3:17.69. The team consisted of freshman Isaiah Ware, Grimmer, Sessions and sophomore Anthony Bello.
Despite the delays in Arkansas, other competitors were able to go to Iowa State for the Iowa State Classic. Junior Joe Murphy created a new personal record with a time of 4:01.64 in the mile, landing him in the No. 4 spot of the meet.
Senior Daniel Kuhn finished third in the 800-meter race with a time of 1:47.89, which according to Helmer could possibly qualify him for the NCAA Championship meet.
As for now, Helmer said the Hoosiers are focusing being in the best shape possible both physically and mentally before their last meet before the Big Ten Championship.
"We are trying to get everyone feeling good for the next couple important weeks," Helmer said. "We will try to put the best performances out there and protect the marks these athletes have worked hard for."
