Indiana track and field is sending four individuals and one relay team to the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships on Friday and Saturday in Birmingham, Alabama.
On the women’s side, the lone Hoosier will be senior distance runner Bailey Hertenstein, who is making her national meet debut in the mile race. Hertenstein, a cross country All-American and second-team All-Big Ten honoree in indoor track, carries a personal record of 4:35.22 in the event.
Junior pole vaulter Nathan Stone will be the only Hoosier competing in a field event. Stone, an Indianapolis native, was a second-team All-American in the 2021 indoor season and cleared a height of 5.35 meters at the 2021 NCAA Championships, placing ninth overall.
Indiana is also sending its men’s distance medley relay team, who recorded the seventh fastest time in NCAA history at the Alex Wilson Invitational on Feb. 19. The order will remain the same, with freshman Camden Marshall leading off with the 1200-meter leg, graduate student Kenny Benton running the 400-meter leg, redshirt sophomore Parker Raymond in the 800-meter leg and graduate student Ben Veatch anchoring with the mile.
With Hertenstein, Marshall, Benton and Raymond all making their NCAA Championship debuts, head coach Ron Helmer stressed the importance of relying on their training to manage the pressure.
“You gotta be who you are,” Helmer said. “The environment gets pretty intense, but you’re here because you deserve to be here and you ran the times you needed to qualify.”
However, two Hoosier All-Americans know plenty about staying calm when the lights are brightest. Veatch, who will also be running in the 3000-meter race, and senior Rikkoi Brathwaite, who will be running the 60-meter race, have performed on the national stage before.
In the 2021 NCAA Indoor Championships, Veatch took eighth in the 5000-meter race with a program-record time of 13:37.03. Brathwaite finished third in the 60-meter race with a time of 6.56 seconds.
Helmer said Veatch and Brathwaite’s experience allows them to serve as mentors for those who have not yet competed under the pressure of a national championship meet.
“The older guys have that responsibility of helping the younger ones get through it,” Helmer said. “The guys who have been here have learned what they need to learn to manage this environment, and it will be up to them to show the younger ones what that should look like.”
The first event the Hoosiers compete in will be the men’s pole vault at 4 p.m. Friday, and they will conclude with the women’s mile at 8 p.m. Saturday. Both Friday and Saturday’s events will be streamed on ESPN.
