Indiana track and field returned from a three-week hiatus to open its outdoor season this weekend. The team split up, with some heading to the Raleigh Relays in Raleigh, North Carolina, and others traveling to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for the Battle on the Bayou.
On Thursday, the men’s distance squad, led by graduate student Skylar Stidam, set the tone for the Hoosiers in Raleigh. Stidam set a new 10,000-meter school record, completing the race in 28:32.41 to finish sixth. His performance demolished the previous record of 28:48.02 set in 2011 by Andrew Poore.
In the 5,000-meter run, graduate student Austin Haskett placed 22nd, earning a new personal best of 13:49.64.
On Friday, junior Hunter Smith and freshman Drew Franklin each had personal bests in the men’s discus. Smith’s launch of 46.40 meters earned him 25th, while Franklin placed 32nd with a distance of 44.83 meters.
In the women’s 5,000-meter run, senior Mariah Wehrle finished with a time of 16:12.79 to place 29th. Her personal-best performance moves her to ninth place in program history.
The throwers rounded out the Raleigh Relays on Saturday. In the men’s hammer throw, junior Sean Mockler’s toss of 65.17 meters earned him a fifth-place finish. Smith also earned a personal best with a distance of 51.38 meters to place 30th.
On Friday in Baton Rouge, the Hoosiers had seven top-ten finishers to kick off their weekend.
In the 200-meter dash, graduate student Antonio Laidler finished in 20.84 seconds to place eighth.
Graduate student Serena Bolden placed third in the women’s long jump with a leap of 6.07 meters.
In the men’s 1,500-meter race, junior Martin Segurola and sophomore Andrew Mangum finished back-to-back with times of 3:47.01 and 3:47.22, respectively. Both earned personal bests with their eighth- and ninth-place finishes.
Sophomores Andi VanMeter and Allie Latta placed fourth and sixth in the women’s 5,000-meter run with personal-best times of 17:49.80 and 18:23.62, respectively.
In the men’s pole vault, graduate student Nathan Stone cleared 5.15 meters to finish fourth.
On the final day of the Battle on the Bayou, Indiana tallied five personal-best finishes.
In the women’s high jump, senior Mahogany Jenkins placed fifth with a jump of 1.70 meters. Sophomore Taylor Schoonveld finished seventh with the same mark.
Jenkins earned an additional fifth-place finish in the triple jump with a distance of 12.58 meters.
Freshman Deepak Laungani cleared 2.00 meters in the men’s high jump to place third.
In the men’s 110-meter hurdles, sophomore John Colquitt finished ninth with a new personal best of 14.19 seconds.
The Hoosiers take a two-week break before returning to competition at the Bryan Clay Invitational hosted by Azusa Pacific University on April 11-13, as well as the Tom Jones Memorial meet hosted by the University of Florida on April 12-13.
