Big Weekend Ahead for Hoosiers

2/13/2008 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field

Feb. 13, 2008

SETTING THE SCENE

The Hoosiers will split up for the first time this season, as twenty Hoosiers will travel to Fayetteville, Ark. to compete in the Tyson Invitational on Friday and Saturday. The meet will feature 88 teams, including 15 teams that are ranked in the USTFCCCA top twenty-five for both the men and women, for a total of 30 ranked teams. The remaining Hoosiers will stay home, competing in Harry Gladstein Fieldhouse in Bloomington, in the Hoosier Hills Invitational on Friday.

LAST TIME OUT

The Hoosiers' last competition was in the Meyo Invite on Friday and Saturday Feb. 8-9, at the Loftus Center on Notre Dame's campus.

The Indiana men's team found success on day one of the event. The team recorded seven career bests and recorded two top five finishes.

The men's team performed very well on Saturday, recording eight career best marks. The team also had five top ten finishes on the day.

STEPHEN ENJOYS THE MEYO

Junior Martin Stephen's career best in the 500m dash was good enough for a second place finish. Stephen narrowly beat Dan Harmsen of Michigan across the line for a difference in time of less than a hundredth of a second. His time of 1:03.77 was also the third fastest time in the 500m in IU history, surpassing John Thomas who ran the event in 1:03.80 at the 1984 Big Ten Championships.

Following Stephen in with another career mark was sophomore Milos Mikic, who finished in 1:05.60.

Three Hoosiers ran to career best times in the 400m dash. Leading the trio in the event was Stephen, who recorded a time of 48.71 seconds. Stephen shed just under a full second off his previous best of 49.69.

Following Stephen across the finish line was fellow junior John Gunnell, recording a time of 48.91. His time was a .11 second improvement on his previous best, 49.02.

Senior Devin Moore was the third Hoosier that recorded a career best in the event. He recorded a time of 51.89 seconds.

FEARNOW FINISHES FIFTH

Senior Paul Fearnow threw a career best in the weight throw en route to a fifth place finish. His heave of 18.67m was an improvement of four centimeters on his previous career mark. Fearnow finished just ten centimeters short of the fourth place heave.

NEW BEST FOR KYLE

Junior Jordan Kyle posted a career best in the 5,000m on his way to sixth place finish. His time of 14:23.21 was a 6.45 second improvement on the mark he recorded at the Gladstein Invitational on Jan. 26, 2007.

JUMPIN' JENKINS

Senior Kyle Jenkins finished sixth in the triple jump. His jump of 15.26m was just ten centimeters short of the fifth place jump and only 14 centimeters short of eclipsing the NCAA provisional mark for the second time this season.

SPRINTERS QUICK OUT OF THE BLOCK

Senior Wil Glover led the Hoosiers as he finished seventh in the 60m dash, recording a time of 6.85 seconds. He was followed in by fellow senior Marcus Thigpen, who finished eighth with a time of 6.87 seconds.

Thigpen then ran the 200m dash, finishing in seventh with a time of 21.94 seconds. His time is just over seven tenths of a second short of the NCAA provisional mark of 21.23. Following Thigpen in was freshman Devin Pipkin, who recorded a career best in the event with a time of 22.08 seconds. Pipkin shed .26 seconds off of his previous best of 22.34.

THREE TIMES A P.R. IN THE 300m

In the 300m dash, three Hoosiers recorded career bests. Junior John Gunnell finished ninth with his career best time of 34.77 seconds. He was followed in by sophomore Daniel Palmer (35.48) and Keith Heerdegen (36.43).

THREE BESTS IN THE 800m

Three Hoosiers recorded career marks in the 800m run. Freshman De'Sean Turner finished 14th in the event with his time of 1:52.11. Turner sliced .26 seconds off of his previous best, 1:52.36.

Turner was followed in by junior Evan Bardach, who recorded a time of 1:53.23. Bardach's time was an improvement of one tenth of a second.

Sophomore Todd Leone also recorded a career best in the event with a time of 1:54.01. Leone improved his previous mark by 1.22 seconds.

ANDY RECORDS A CAREER BEST

Freshman Andy Weatherford also recorded a career best on the day. His came in the 3,000m run, as he recorded a time of 8:41.53, improving his previous best by 3.07 seconds.

RESULTS

For results and recaps of the action taking place at both meets, stay tuned to www.IUHOOSIERS.com, as results and a full recap will be posted at the end of each day.