Indiana University Athletics
Texas Relays is First Big Meet of Outdoor Season
3/28/2012 12:00:00 AM | Track and Field
March 28, 2012
Meet Notes 
| | Flotrack Coverage | Poehlein Invite Live Results
Indiana track and field competes at the first huge meet of the outdoor season this weekend, as select athletes from the team have qualified for the Texas Relays in Austin, Texas. Also Indiana's throwers will compete at the Mike Poehlein Invitational at Purdue on Friday and Saturday. In Texas, Kelsie Ahbe will represent the women's team, while Kind Butler, Derek Drouin, Darius King, Olu Olamigoke and Rex Parker will carry the torch for the men. Butler will start the meet for the Hoosiers, competing on Friday morning. Flotrack.org will be on hand, providing video coverage of races and interviews.
Ahbe, Butler and Drouin all make their outdoor debuts this weekend in their primary events. Ahbe will compete in the pole vault for the first time outdoors this season. Butler will run the 100 for the first time since he competed at the 2011 USA Track and Field Championships. For Drouin, the meet will mark his first high jump competition since injuring his foot in 2011. King will also compete in the high jump, and Olamigoke and Parker will be in the triple jump competition.
The men's high jump field is as good as an NCAA Championships field, with Drouin, a three-time NCAA Champion, and King, an NCAA Runner-up, being joined by NCAA Champion Erik Kynard of Kansas State, NCAA runner-up Dwight Barbiasz of Florida and several other All-Americans.
Butler is in an impressive field of 80 sprinters vying for the coveted title of Texas Relays Champion. Olamigoke is one of 16 jumpers in flight `A' of the collegiate triple jump, while Parker is one of 16 in flight `B'. Ahbe and IU alum Vera Neuenswander will compete in an 11-woman field in the pole vault that includes collegiate record holder Tina Sutej of Arkansas and several other All-Americans.
LAST TIME OUT Indiana track and field started off the outdoor season well at the Big Ten/SEC Challenge. The Hoosiers set four meet records and four facility records, winning five events and taking 19 top three finishes, helping the Big Ten men defeat the SEC men 400.5 to 314.5. The SEC women prevailed over the Big Ten, 390 to 323.
The Hoosiers showed that the steeplechase should again be a dominant event this season. In the women's race, IU took first and second and in the men's race, IU went 1-2-3. Breanne Ehrman won in a facility and meet record time of 10:21.38, a little more than two seconds off her career best. Samantha Ginther was second, also finishing under the meet and facility record in 10:30.69. Ginther's time ranks sixth in IU history. Ehrman and Ginther are second and third respectively on the Division I list this season.
The meet and facility record went down in the men's race as well, as De'Sean Turner won the men's steeple in 8:52.58, beating teammate Adrien Dannemiller by just .03 (8:52.58). Andy Weatherford was third in 9:03.17. All three Hoosiers were under the previous facility record and move into the top three spots on the Division I list this season.
Danny Stockberger won the 800 meters in a meet and facility record time of 1:51.00. He won by 2.02 seconds and was 1.43 seconds better than the facility record. Zach Mayhew took the 1,500 in a meet and facility record time of 3:50.02. He bettered the record by 5.88 seconds
Emma Kimoto took the win in the women's high jump, clearing 1.76m (5-9.25). Kimoto is within two centimeters of her career best.
Players Mentioned
