Big Ten Track and Field Breakdown: May 3

5/3/2023 2:30:00 PM | Track and Field

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - With just one more regular season weekend remaining, the outdoor track and field postseason is set to begin Friday, May 12th in Bloomington at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships.

A season that began at the end of March has included a number of strong performances, headlined by Jayden Ulrich improving on her school record in the discus.

Here are how the Hoosiers stack up in the Big Ten and in the NCAA's east region heading into the postseason this month.

IU WEEKEND RECAP
The Hoosiers spent the weekend split between the Penn Relays and the Texas Invitational.

Alyssa Skorge opened the weekend with a lifetime best in the steeplechase of 10:24.04, moving into eighth in program history.

Claire Overfelt shaved a minute-and-a-half off her lifetime best in the 10,000 meters, running 34:00.24 and moving into ninth in program history.

Hope Purcell recorded an outdoor personal best of 5.94m/19-6 in the long jump.

The IU's women's DMR team of Maddie Dalton, Alyssa Robinson, Maddie Russin and Sarah Schmitt ran the No. 6 time in program history outdoors (11:14.08).

Dalton and Schmitt returned, along with Jenna Barker and Phoebe Bates, to run the 4x1500 relay in 17:39.23, a No. 2 mark in school history.

Camden Marshall split 1:46.68 in the 4x800 to help the Hoosiers to a No. 6 time in program history of 7:20.96.

Down in Texas, Tyler Carrel cleared a season's best 5.35m/17-6.5 in the pole vault while Paola Fernandez-Sola long jumped a windy 6.42m/21-0.75 (+4.2).

NCAA EAST PRELIMS WATCH
Top 48 individuals and top 24 relays in both the east and west regions qualify for their respective NCAA Preliminary rounds. IU will head to the east region from May 24-27 in Jacksonville, Fla.

Heading into the weekend, the Hoosiers would have 27 entries to the NCAA East Preliminary round, matching its total from last season.

Five athletes rank in the top-10 of their event in the east region including Nathan Stone (pole vault), Mahogany Jenkins (high jump), Paola Fernandez-Sola (long jump), Serena Bolden (long jump) and Jayden Ulrich (shot put).

The Hoosiers qualified through six entries to last year's NCAA Outdoor Championships. Returning from that field includes Sean Mockler (hammer throw), Jayden Ulrich (shot put and discus), Paola Fernandez-Sola (long jump) and Mahogany Jenkins (high jump).

Men:
Antonio Laidler:
- 100m (18th)
Christopher Grant:
- 100m (47th)
Camden Marshall:
- 1500m (13th)
Jake Gebhardt:
- 5000m (10th), 3000mS (47th)
Grayson Rolen:
- High Jump (43rd)
Nathan Stone:
- Pole Vault (7th)
Tyler Carrel:
- Pole Vault (12th)
Riley Johnston:
- Pole Vault (28th)
Alex Smith:
- Long Jump (47th)
Robert Blue:
- Triple Jump (35th)
Noah Koch
- Discus (21st), Shot Put (21st)
Sean Mockler
- Hammer (16^th)

Women
Maddie Dalton
- 1500m (42nd)
Sarah Schmitt
- 5000m (21st)
Claire Overfelt
- 10,000m (32nd)
Alyssa Skorge
- 3000mS (35th)
Mahogany Jenkins
- High Jump (8th), Triple Jump (23rd)
Jessica Mercier
- Pole Vault (17th)
Paola Fernandez-Sola
- Long Jump (6th)
Serena Bolden
- Long Jump (9th), Triple Jump (39th)
Jayden Ulrich
- Shot Put (10th), Discus (5th)
Makayla Hunter
- Javelin (22nd)

BIG TEN SEASON
The Big Ten Outdoor Championships will be held in Bloomington on May 12-14.

IU will welcome the Big Ten's best athletes to Bloomington next weekend for the Outdoor Track and Field Championships.

After winning two individual titles during the indoor season, the Hoosiers will head to the conference championships with aspirations of more Big Ten glory. Nathan Stone is the reigning Big Ten indoor and outdoor champion in the pole vault.

The Hoosiers have won 15 total pole vault titles outdoors including back-to-back wins from Stone in 2021 and 2022. Jayden Ulrich is the lone returning Big Ten champion outdoors on the women's side after winning the discus as a freshman in 2022.

Men
Christopher Grant
- 100m (5th)
Antonio Laidler
- 100m (7th)
Camden Marshall
- 1500m (3rd)
Dustin Horter
- 1500m (9th)
Jake Gebhardt
- 5000m (4th), 3000mS (5th)
Indiana
- 4x100 (7th), 4x400 (9th)
Nathan Stone
- Pole Vault (3rd)
Tyler Carrel
- Pole Vault (4th)
Riley Johnston
- Pole Vault (7th)
Robert Blue
- Triple Jump (7th)
Noah Koch
- Discus (7th)
Sean Mockler
- Hammer (7th)

Women
Alyssa Robinson
- 100m (7th)
Maddie Dalton
- 1500m (10th)
Sarah Schmitt
- 5000m (5th)
Claire Overfelt
- 10,000m (7th)
Alyssa Skorge
- 3000mS (8th)
Indiana
- 4x400 Relay (10th)
Mahogany Jenkins
- High Jump (2nd), Triple Jump (5th)
Jessica Mercier
- Pole Vault (4th)
Paola Fernandez-Sola
- Long Jump (2nd)
Serena Bolden
- Long Jump (3rd), Triple Jump (7th)
Jayden Ulrich
- Shot Put (4th), Discus (2nd)
Makayla Hunter
- Javelin (5th)