Around The Game
IU coach Randy Heisler sent his distance runners to the Stanford Invitational and the jumpers, sprinters and throwers to the Florida Relays this past weekend. In the Stanford Invitational, IU sophomore Kelly Siefker and senior Audrey Giesler ran NCAA Regional qualifying standards in the 3,000-meter steeple chase. Siefker cut 13 seconds off her personal record in the 3,000-meter steeple chase, running 10:28.86 -- good for fourth-place -- and Giesler finished eighth with a time of 10:36.18. The distance runners were not the only athletes that set NCAA regional qualifying marks, as IU senior Lauren Chesnut jumped 12.44 meters in the triple jump at the Florida Relays, good for fifth place. IU freshman Jennifer Cobbina finished seventh in the long jump with a distance of 5.87 meters. Junior Christina Archibald cleared 1.68 meters in the high jump, .05 meters off the NCAA Regional qualifying standard. IU returns to competition Friday for the two-day Texas Relays in Austin, Texas. The men's track team split the weekend between the Stanford Invitational and the Florida Relays. A number of Hoosiers posted NCAA Regional qualifying marks. In Gainesville, Fla., freshman All-American David Neville won the 200-meters in 20.83 and placed seventh in the 400-meters, winning his heat handidly in 47.16. Junior All-American Aarik Wilson returned to competition with a win in the triple jump with 16.42 meters -- placing him atop the collegiate rankings. At Stanford, sophomore All-American Sean Jefferson took the national lead in the 1,500-meters, placing first among collegians and third overall in 3:42, a personal best. Senior Nathan Purcell finished just behind Kruse in a season-best 3:54. Senior All-American Chris Powers set an outdoor personal best in the 5,000-meters, finishing eighth among collegians (14th overall) in 14:00.83, an NCAA Regional qualifying mark. IU travels next weekend to Austin, Texas, to compete in the prestigious Texas Relays. The No. 11 Hoosier women's water polo team picked up five victories this weekend in Grove City and Slippery Rock, Penn. With the clean sweep, IU improves to 7-1 in conference play and 15-6 for the season. IU dominated its opposition in each match, scoring an impressive 79 goals while allowing only 13. In addition to their lopsided victories this weekend, the Hoosiers set three school records. In the opening match Saturday, the Hoosiers dominated Salem International, tallying a school record 21 goals. Freshman Kara Woolley played solidly throughout the weekend for the Hoosiers. She led the way on the offensive end Saturday with 12 goals along with five assists, tying a school-record. Woolley and her teammates also had themselves a field day on the defensive end Saturday night, as they set yet another school record with 26 steals against a depleted PBSU squad. Sunday afternoon, IU wrapped up the weekend with an 11-5 win over Gannon in Slippery Rock, Penn. The victory moves IU into second place in the CWPA-Western Division behind the No. 8 Michigan Wolverines. Hitting the road for its first two Big Ten matches, the IU women's tennis team defeated Wisconsin in a hard fought 5-2 match before falling to No. 6 powerhouse Northwestern 6-1. Saturday, the Hoosiers struck first, stealing the doubles point and the momentum from the home standing Badgers. Senior Linda Tran and sophomore Sarah Batty battled to an 8-4 win over Wisconsin's No. 1 duo, while senior Karie Schlukebir and junior Dora Vastag secured the point in getting an 8-4 win in the No. 3 position. The Hoosiers then worked their way through singles play, taking four of six matches en route to their first conference road win. No. 39-ranked Vastag captured a three-set win against Wisconsin's only ranked player. Vastag led the Hoosiers from her No. 1 spot, downing No. 58 Katie McGaffigan, 2-6, 7-6 (5), 6-1. The doubles duo of Schlukebir and freshman Cecile Perton won the Hoosiers' only doubles match 8-4 in the No. 3 position. Schlukebir was also the only Hoosier to net a singles win, as the Wildcats took five of six matches on the afternoon. Schlukebir defeated Ruth Barnes 6-2, 6-1. The split on the weekend moves IU to 9-6 (1-1 Big Ten) as they return home to play host to Ohio State and Penn State April 3 and 4. The IU rowing team opened up its 2004 spring season with a weekend road trip to Lake Wheeler in Raleigh, N.C., competing in five races against the University of North Carolina and Georgetown. The team returned home with one first place finish and four second place finishes. The Hoosiers' only victory came in the last event -- the Varsity Eight. The crew rowed with a time of 6:37.50, less than two seconds faster then second place UNC. Competing for the Varsity Eight was senior Line Espedal, junior coxswain Sarah Meyer, juniors Amanda Walker and Kelly Schuiling and sophomores Lauren Anderson, Ashley Airis, Carly Schilling, Laura Lazaridis and Elisabeth Benoit. "The Varsity Eight won a great race," IU coach Steve Peterson said. "It is a huge step forward for them because they were forced to overcome a tremendous amount of obstacles and rowed a gutsy race." In other events, the Novice Four boat finished 20 seconds behind UNC with a time of 8:19.78. The Varsity Four squad came up short by just a second-and-a-half behind Georgetown for a time of 7:54.42. The Novice Eight rowed a second place time of 7:07.52, and the second Varsity Eight crew finished 10 seconds behind UNC, which had a time of 6:59.46.
