Although it was a rainy and gloomy day on April 21, it did not stop the competition at the Robert C. Haugh Track and Field complex in Bloomington. Indiana track and field hosted its first outdoor meet of the season, featuring athletes from 14 universities, including Big Ten schools Michigan State and Purdue.
The men’s and women’s pole vault opened the meet for the Hoosiers. Graduate student Jessica Mercier moved into seventh all-time in school history, clearing 4.14 meters. On the men’s side, senior Nathan Stone finished first with a height of 5.49 meters.
In the weekend's first track event, the Hoosiers won both the men’s and women’s 200-meter races. Senior Alyssa Robinson won the women’s with a time of 24.15 seconds, and senior Antonio Laidler won the men’s in a personal season’s best time of 21.05 seconds.
The Hoosiers had four runners in the top seven of the men’s 400-meter dash, all of whom finished in under 54 seconds. Senior Shaton Vaughn won the event in 52.67 seconds. Senior Micah Camble placed fourth, and junior David Olowookere and freshman John Colquitt placed sixth and seventh, respectively.
Closing out day one sophomore Jayden Ulrich placed third in the women’s shotput with a best of 16.78 meters. Junior Noah Koch won the men’s event with a distance of 18.36 meters, a personal best and sixth best in school history. In the first even of day two Koch followed up his shotput performance with the fifth-best mark in the discus event in school history at 56.10 meters.
Graduate student Serena Bolden put together a complete home meet for herself. Bolden, known for being a long jumper, won the women’s 100-meter dash with a time of 11.72 seconds. In the long jump, she placed third with a distance of 5.77 meters.
Finishing out day two of competition on Saturday in the women’s javelin throw, sophomore Makayla Hunter won the event with a distance of 43.42 meters. In the final event of the competition, the men’s 4x400 relay, the Indiana “A” team took second with a time of 3:17.35 seconds.
The Hoosiers will travel to University City, Pennsylvania, for the Penn Relays next weekend, where the relay events will be the focus of the weekend. The Hoosiers will have teams in the sprint medley, 4xMile relay and the distance medley for the first time this outdoor season. The competition begins on Friday, and the two-day competition will end on Saturday evening.
