Indiana men’s track and field competed in the Big Ten Indoor Championships at the SPIRE Institute in Geneva, Ohio, over the weekend. The Hoosiers finished in fourth place as a team and garnered multiple conference awards on an individual level.
After setting a personal best in the mile, with a time of 3:58.09 in Friday’s preliminary round, Indiana graduate student Ben Veatch carried his momentum into Saturday’s final and picked up a silver medal in the event. In his second event on Saturday, Veatch earned another silver medal in the 5000-meter race, finishing with a time of 13:56.28. He went on to receive All-Big Ten honors in both events.
Additionally, Veatch anchored the Hoosiers’ silver medal-winning distance medley relay team in the mile run leg.
In the 60-meter finals, senior Rikkoi Brathwaite earned a gold medal with a time of 6.57 seconds to defend his title from last year’s Big Ten Indoor Championships. He earned first-team All-Big Ten honors for the performance.
Related: [Indiana women’s track and field wraps up Big Ten season, finishes ninth at Indoor Championships]
Brathwaite said he naturally felt some pressure ahead of the weekend, but he stayed calm and trusted his training.
“Anyone would feel pressure coming into an event knowing the target is on your back,” Brathwaite said. “I just made sure that it didn’t get to me.”
Graduate student Kenny Benton had a particularly busy weekend, competing in the finals of the 200-meter race, the 400-meter race and the 4 x 400 meter relay. He set a new personal best in the 400-meter race with a time of 46.64 seconds and anchored the bronze medal-winning 4 x 400 meter team.
Indiana head coach Ron Helmer said Benton’s performance serves as an example of how difficult it is to gain points against such high-level competition.
“Kenny had a great meet but only scored a handful of points,” Helmer said. “He runs a lifetime best in the 400 and 200 trials, and that’s a lot of big-time running to get 4 1/2 points.”
In the field events, graduate student Jyles Ettiene set his season-best in the high jump with a mark of 2.15 meters, good for seventh overall. Freshman Sean Mockler took seventh place in the weight throw with a mark of 20.77 meters.
Related: [Indiana men’s track and field concludes regular season in record-breaking fashion]
Junior Nathan Stone picked up a bronze in the pole vault for the Hoosiers, clearing a height of 5.40 meters.
Despite the success of the Hoosiers’ veteran team members, one of the weekend’s top performances came from one of the team’s youngest athletes, freshman Camden Marshall. His win in the 800-meter finals was impressive, not only due to his inexperience at the Big Ten level, but the manner in which he achieved it.
After running a majority of the race in last place, Marshall surged his way into first in the final 110 meters and finished with a time of 1:49.33. He earned first-team All-Big Ten honors for his performance in the race.
“Coming in, I didn’t even look at this as a possibility,” Marshall said about the result. “It’s definitely been a surprise and something super exciting.”
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Helmer said Marshall is one of the athletes he worries about the least come meet days.
“His demeanor is incredible,” Helmer said. “His biggest talents right now are his composure, his patience and his ability to execute properly.”
This meet concludes the 2022 indoor season for a majority of the Indiana men’s track and field team, but a select few individuals will travel to Birmingham, Alabama, on March 11-12 for the NCAA Indoor Championships.
