Indiana Track and Field Prepared for Big Ten Indoor Championships

Friday, February 23

Geneva, Ohio

All Day

Indiana University

Big Ten Championships

Tickets

Indiana Track and Field Prepared for Big Ten Indoor Championships

2/22/2024 6:30:00 PM | Track and Field

Competition Guide (PDF)Meet Notes (PDF)

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Indoor Track and Field postseason has arrived for the Indiana Track and Field team.

The Hoosiers will head to Geneva, Ohio, where they will compete against 12 other Big Ten schools at SPIRE Institute from Feb. 23-24.

Meet Info. (Geneva, Ohio)
Big Ten Indoor Championships (All times ET)
Start 10:40 AM-7:40 PM (Friday), 11:00 AM-5:25 PM (Saturday)
Venues: SPIRE Institute
Livestats
Day 1 Stream (Track Events)
Day 1 Stream (Field Events)
Day 2 Stream (Track Events)
Day 2 Stream (Field Events)

Coverage: Follow Indiana T&F at iuhoosiers.com and on social media at @IndianaXCTF.

Last Time Out:
Camden Marshall, Antonio Laidler, Keefer Soehngen and Austin Haskett ran the program's third fastest Distance Medley Relay with a time of 9:23.41 to open the meet. The Hoosiers are in great position to qualify for the NCAA Championships as they hold the 10th fastest time in the country.

Aidan Lord ran shaved nearly eight seconds off his time in the Mile of 4:03.07.

On the distance side, Tori Schmidt ran a personal best in the 3000 meters.

Hunter Smith had a great day inside the circle throwing the weight a personal best mark of 18.82m/61-09.00.

Indiana swept the men's pole vault with Nathan Stone holding the top mark of 5.38m/17-07.75. Tyler Carrel finished second as he set a new personal best height of 5.23m/17-01.75.

The Hoosier Lineup:
Multis:
Freshmen Garrett Messer and Max Grangier will kick things off in the men's heptathlon. They are scheduled to compete in seven events starting with the 60 meters at 10:40 a.m. ET.

Sprints:
Kristina Vincic and Symone Adams will double up in the 60 and 200 meters in their first Big Ten appearances. Antonio Laidler will also run the two short sprints while John Colquitt and Novo Onovwerosuoke join him in the 200 meters.
Kenisha Phillips is primed to run the 400 meters. She currently holds the second fastest time in the league (52.37). In addition, she set the Indiana school record in her first indoor season with the Hoosiers. Morgan Snow, Vincente Graiani and Micah Camble will also run in the sprints.

Olivia Gee and John Colquitt will take on the 60 Meter Hurdles.

Distance and mid-distance:
Ryann Parrish, Maddie Russin, Keefer Soehngen and Keelan Grant will run the 600 Meters while Camden Marshall and Nico Colchico race in the 800 Meters.

Aidan Lord will represent the Hoosiers in the Mile after coming off a great performance and a personal-best time last weekend. Lily Myers and Katelyn Winton will run also run the Mile and are available for the 3000 meters.

Austin Haskett, Skylar Stidam, Aidan Lord, Brayden Henkle and Camden Marshall are entered to run the 3000 and/or 5000-meter races. Phoebe Bates and Tori Schmidt will also contest the distance races.

Pole Vault:
Jessica Mercier is ranked third in the conference and holds the program record after beating the school record at the Meyo Invitational. The men's trio of Nathan Stone, Tyler Carrel and Riley Johnston are set to compete on the runway. Stone holds the highest mark in the conference and is ranked fourth in the program's top-10 list.

Jumps:
Serena Bolden will double down in the Long and Triple Jumps. She is also entered into the 60 meters.

Paola Fernandez-Sola (Long Jump) and Mahogany Jenkins (Triple Jump) are set to compete in their respective field events. Jenkins will also join Taylor Schoonveld in the High Jump.

On the men's side, Grayson Rolen and Deepak Laungani will compete in the High Jump while Alex Smith enters the Long Jump competition.

Throws:
Makayla Hunter and Hunter Smith will represent the throws group in the weight throw. Hunter is also entered in the women's shotput event.

Relays:
The sprinters have their best eight entered into the men's and women's 4x400 relay with the women's squad made up of Vincic, Snow, Russin and Phillips and the men's relay team with Graiani, Laidler, Colchico and Camble.

The Hoosiers will also enter two Distance Medley Relay Teams. Myers, Vincic, Russin, Wehrle will run on the women's side with Marshall, Laidler, Soehngen and Haskett are the top-four for the men.

QUOTABLES
Assistant coach Valerie Brown (Sprints, Hurdles, Relays)
"Overall starting from the fall, coach Beathea has been big on the team doing things together," Brown said. "It has been very impactful having the team altogether at the beginning of the year, to kind of get to know everyone. Progressing towards the Big Ten Championship really started on the first day of fall conditioning, getting everybody together and laying out expectations. Growth and development started on day one. In every event group you have student-athletes who have an opportunity to have success including Jessica in the pole vault, Cam on the distance side, Antonio and Kenisha on the sprints side and Paola and Serena in the Jumps. You have student-athletes who have positioned themselves very well. Right now, it is really about executing. It is showtime until the lights come on. I think it will expose teams who are not really prepared and are not where they need to be. As a team we have an opportunity to showcase all the hard work that they have put in to put themselves in a position on day one to have a season best, to PR, to make the final and put themselves in a position to make the podium. It is really about execution, coming together and doing it for your teammates, for the vets. I think it is really important to leave this program better than they found it. The seniors that I highlighted [Kenisha, Antonio, Paola, Serena, Jessica, etc.] those student-athletes have an opportunity to do some exciting things on day two to leave a mark on our program for years to come. That part is exciting."

Assistant Coach Mike Erb (Jumps)
"We are looking forward to tomorrow," Erb said. "It is a fantastic field. This is probably one of the better fields we have had. We have people who are very competitive and as good as anybody, particularly in the women's long jump. The expectation is high, and we like our chances."

Head Cross Country Coach/Associate Track and Field Coach (Distance) Eric Heins
"Our women's group has shown a lot of confidence and progress over the last two weekends of racing," Heins said. "That has shown in their marks, setting personal and season bests. They are going into this weekend pretty confident and excited to compete against some really challenging teams in the conference and against the women in this conference who are ranked on the national level."

"On the men's side, they have really turned it around since the cross country season and have put themselves in a position to be top-three in a lot of events individually, and that is our goal. Wherever we have someone entered, we have a chance to be top-three in the conference. One to help with team points, two to help them as individuals to help them come to this meet excited to compete at the highest level."

2023 INDOOR RECAP
Nathan Stone won the pole vault to earn his fourth Big Ten title. IU has won four of the last five Big Ten Indoor titles in the Men's Pole Vault after Stone won gold in 2021 and 2023.
Teammate Tyler Carrel finished fifth in the event. Jessica Mercier won bronze after she cleared a season's best 4.19m/13-9 last season.

Paola Fernandez-Sola earned the silver medal with a mark of 6.26m/20-6.5. Serena Bolden finished fifth through a mark of 5.98m/19-7.5. Grayson Rolen finishes fourth in the High Jump clearing three-straight bars (2.06m/6-9, 2.09m/6-10.25 and 2.12m/6-11.5) and setting an indoor personal best to score five points for the team.

IU's Distance Medley Relay teams provided fifth (Men) and sixth (Women) place finishes respectively to end the opening day of competition.

Haskett finished third in the Mile with a time of 4:13.85 to take home the Bronze.

Antonio Laidler finished second in the 60 meters (6.69) winning Silver and fourth in the 200 meters (20.97).

PROJECTED SCORERS (based on events entered in)
Men:
Antonio Laidler: (5^th, 3^rd), 60m, 200m
Austin Haskett: (3^rd), 3000m
Skylar Stidam: (5^th,4^th), 3000m, 5000m
4x400: (8^th)
DMR: (3^rd)
Nathan Stone: (1^st), Pole Vault
Tyler Carrel: (4^th), Pole Vault
Riley Johnston: (8^th), Pole Vault

Women:
Kenisha Phillips: (2^nd), 400m
Jessica Mercier: (3^rd), Pole Vault
Paola Fernandez-Sola: (8^th), Long Jump
4x400 relay: (7^th)

BIG TEN RANKINGS (USTFCCCA TFRI POLL)
Men:
1. Wisconsin
2. Nebraska
3. Penn State
4. Iowa
5. Michigan
6. Ohio State
7. Illinois
8. Indiana
9. Purdue
10. Michigan State
11. Rutgers

Women:
1. Illinois
2. Iowa
3. Penn State
4. Minnesota
5. Ohio State
6. Nebraska
7. Wisconsin
8. Michigan
9. Rutgers
10. Michigan State
11. Indiana
12. Purdue
13. Maryland

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