Track and Field travels to invitationals
The University of Indianapolis men’s and women’s track and field teams competed at the Boilermaker Invitational at Purdue University on Feb. 16, putting up another provisional mark, along with three improved marks.
Highlighting the invitational for the Greyhounds was senior Robert Gardner, who qualified in the men’s 200-meter dash with a current National Collegiate Athletic Association 28th-best time of 21.82. Gardner also improved his times in the 400-meter race as well. Gardner’s 48.53 time in the 400-meter moved him up to 26th currently in the nation.
Also contributing to the Greyhounds’ success that day was senior Jerel Flournoy, who improved his mark in the men’s long jump with a leap of 7.20 meters. The leap lifted him to 15th in the nation currently.
For the women, seniors Delta Martin, Haley Miller, Kenya Owens and sophomore LaTisha Martin improved their provisional time in the 4×400-meter. Their time of 3:51.22 moved them up from 51st to 24th in the nation.
On Feb. 8-9, the Greyhounds traveled to Indiana University to compete in the Hoosier Hills Invitational.
Both the men’s and women’s teams broke program records in the 60-meter hurdles, while many of the runners posted NCAA provisional marks.
Senior Jermel Kindred and sophomore Camille Edwards both broke the Greyhound track and field records for their 60-meter hurdles. Kindred posted a provisional time of 8.19, which was good enough for 26th in the NCAA Division II, while Edwards posted a provisional time of 8.86, ranking her time at 23rd in the nation.
Delta and LaTisha ran NCAA provisional times in the 400-meter dash. LaTisha posted a time of 57.23, which was good enough for 30th in the NCAA Division II, and Delta finished with a time of 57.65, which was 42nd best in the nation.
Sophomore Katie Crump, Miller, Delta and LaTisha also ran an NCAA provisional time of 3:55.11 in the women’s 4×400 meter relay.
Freshman Joshua Bass said that many things go into preparation for events.
“We do a lot of speed work,” Bass said. “We tend to focus on muscle and twitching exercises. We’re doing some new drills, which are very beneficial for us. Practices are harder when we’re preparing for an event.”
Head Track and Field Coach Scott Fangman said that because the Hoosier Hills hosted many Division I programs, UIndy took its fastest and best student-athletes.
“We do tend to split the team up often,” Fangman said. “For Hoosier Hills, we’re taking what I call the short bus—a few of the kids that are the best in the nation. But then to a meet like Taylor, we’ll take the big bus.”
The Greyhounds’ next meet will be at the ARC, Feb. 22-23, where they will host the 2013 Great Lakes Valley Conference Indoor Track and Field Championships with a starting time yet to be determined.
