IU Track Sweeps First Weekly Big Ten Honors
IU Track Sweeps First Weekly Big Ten Honors
IU Track Sweeps First Weekly Big Ten Honors
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Indiana track and field opened its season at the Hoosier Open, and four Hoosiers have garnered Big Ten Athlete of the Week honors for their efforts. Kelsey Duerksen and Zach Mayhew are the Big Ten Track Athletes of the Week, and Derek Drouin and Courtney Woodard are the Big Ten Field Athletes of the Week. Drouin is a Big Ten Athlete of the Week for the sixth time in his career, while Duerksen wins her second honor and Mayhew and Woodard both claim their first.
Indiana track and field director and head coach Ron Helmer said the four student-athletes set an example for their teammates to start the season, competing at a high level.
"Our goal with this early meet was to get the season started off on the right foot, and these four did a good job of setting the tone for our season,” said Helmer. “I felt like as a team we did a good job of competing in the meet, and because of that we will head into the break with positive momentum. Now we need to carry that forward into January."
Duerksen went 1-2 in the womenÂÂ’s 5,000m invitational with teammate Samantha Ginther. DuerksenÂÂ’s time of 16:37.27 ranks sixth in IU history and ranks second in the country this season.
Mayhew finished second in the elite menÂÂ’s 5,000m invitational, clocking a time of 13:51.79. All six finishers in the race were faster than the collegiate leader entering the weekend, putting Mayhew second on the national list in the young season. MayhewÂÂ’s time is a two-second improvement on his career best and ranks fifth in IU history.
Drouin scored 4,009 points to take the collegiate lead on the season in the non-traditional event. Drouin finished 394 points better than the field at the meet and was 148 points better than the previous collegiate leader, Devin Dick of Kansas State. Drouin won three of the five events, including a clearance of 2.15m (7-0.5) in the high jump, which ranks fourth among all collegiate high jumpers this season, even though Drouin was jumping from a short approach of just four steps. The senior also posted the seventh fastest 60m hurdle time in the nation, moving himself to third in the IU record books at 7.98 seconds.
Woodard won the womenÂÂ’s pentathlon with 3,660 points, finishing just one point shy of her lifetime best which ranks sixth in IU history. WoodardÂÂ’s score ranks fourth on the Division I list this season. Woodard won four of the five events, taking second in the final event (800m) to Kelsie Ahbe, who competed unattached and finished in second with 3,031.
The Hoosiers continue their season on January 12, 2013, when they host Purdue for a dual meet. For complete coverage of all things IU track and field, stay tuned to IUHoosiers.com.
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