The Indiana track and field team split up its weekend in both Chicago at the Windy City Invite and at its final home meet of the indoor season at the Hoosier Hills Invitational. The Hoosiers look to finish strong, as the Big Ten championships are right around the corner.
In Chicago, the Hoosiers started out strong with sophomore Sean Mockler in the weight throw with a personal best of 21.57 meters. Junior Noah Koch finished right behind Mockler, also throwing a personal best of 20.90 meters. In the women’s weight throw, sophomore Jayden Ulrich posted a personal best of 19.38 meters.
Senior Hope Purcell and graduate Serena Bolden cleared the 6-meter mark in the long jump, with jumps of 6.00 and 6.02 meters.
Following the field events in the Windy City, senior Antonio Laidler ran in 6.68 seconds in the 60-meter dash prelims, posting a personal best and the third-fastest time in school history. In the finals, Laidler cooled off a little and ran a time of 6.74 seconds, followed by graduate Christopher Grant with a time of 6.78 seconds to place fourth and fifth in the event.
Also in Chicago, graduate Jake Gebhardt the second fastest time in the Big Ten at 7:52.67 seconds in the 3,000 meters ran for a personal best. In the women’s race, graduate Sarah Schmitt posted the sixth-best time in the Big Ten running in 9:16.98 seconds.
To close out Laidler’s weekend in Chicago, he ran a personal best and a top three time in school history in the 200-meter dash with a time of 21.01 seconds. The last race of the Windy City Invitational was the men’s mile where two Hoosiers ran personal bests. Graduate Dustin Horter and senior Austin Haskett had times 4:02.77 and 4:04.01 seconds, respectively
In Bloomington, sophomore Emily Herndon had a personal best in the shot put with a throw of 13.59 meters. Freshman Nico Colchico in the 600-meter dash ran a personal best at a pace of 1:19.64 seconds.
To finish out the home invitational, sophomore Camden Marshall had a huge personal best, running a sub-four-minute mile in a time of 3:57.56, placing him in the top three in school history. Freshman Jaylen Grimes ran personal bests in the 200 and 400-meter dashes with times of 22.69 seconds and 49.56 seconds, respectively.
The Hoosiers look to continue their climb up the rankings as they travel to University of Notre Dame for the South Bend Invitational, their final regular season indoor meet before the postseason begins.
Follow reporter Michael Livingston (.@mblivington_) for updates throughout the Indiana track and field season.
