Hoosier Heroics Lead to Six More NCAA Qualifiers
Hoosier Heroics Lead to Six More NCAA Qualifiers
May 26, 2012
Track and Field contact - Kyle Johnson (krj@indiana.edu)
Hoosier Heroics Lead to Six More NCAA Qualifiers
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Indiana track and field got five more athletes and a relay into the NCAA Championships on the final day of the NCAA East Prelims, bringing the final total to 16 Hoosiers (two women and 14 men) headed to Des Moines, Iowa in two weeks. IUÂ’s qualifiers included Derek Drouin and Darius King in the high jump, Andy Bayer in the 1,500m, Kind Butler in the 200m, Ben Hubers in the 5,000m, and Nick Stoner, Chris Vaughn, Tyler Sult and Butler in the 4x400m relay. The Hoosiers provided several highlights on the day, including Bayer clocking the top time in the 1,500 and Butler diving across the line to get qualified in the relay.
Bayer ran the fastest advancing time in the 1,500, clocking a Hodges Stadium record time of 3:45.44 to win his heat and punch his ticket for Des Moines. Bayer advances to the NCAA Outdoor meet for the first time after earning All-America honors indoors in the past three seasons.
Butler clocked the third-fastest time in the 200m, finishing second in heat one in 20.36 seconds. His time moves him past Olympic gold medalist David Neville for second in the all-time IU records. Butler advances to the outdoor national meet as an individual for the first time in his career. He has earned All-America honors the past two indoor seasons and was All-American in the 4x100m relay outdoors a year ago.
Butler followed up his performance in the 200 with a dive across the line to clinch an automatic qualifying spot in the 4x400m relay. Butler anchored the Hoosiers to a time of 3:06.48 for third in the second heat of three. Stoner lead off with a time of 48.0, Vaughn ran 46.5, Sult clocked a time of 47.37 and then Butler brought it home in 44.41. The Hoosiers head to the outdoor national meet in the 4x400 after earning All-America honors in the event during the indoor season.
A day after Emma Kimoto qualified for the national meet in the womenÂ’s high jump, Drouin and King did the same in the menÂ’s high jump. Drouin and King both cleared 2.19m (7-2.25) to advance. Drouin had only one miss throughout the competition, and King came up clutch with third attempt clearances at 2.16m and the final bar, claiming the 12th and final qualifying spot out of the East. Drouin returns to the NCAA Championships after missing the outdoor campaign in 2011 and the indoor season this year due to a foot injury, and heÂ’ll pursue his fourth NCAA title in the high jump in two weeks. King advances to his second NCAA Championship meet, having taken runner-up honors at the NCAA Indoor meet this year.
Hubers busted everyoneÂ’s brackets, taking second in the first heat of the 5K to automatically advance to Des Moines, despite entering the meet with the 47th-best seed time out of 48 runners. Hubers will run the NCAA outdoor 5K for the third-straight year.
IndianaÂ’s 4x100m relay barely missed out on a return trip to the NCAA Championships. Sult, Butler, Vaughn and Stoner clocked a time of 40.20, which was the fastest non-advancing time and took 13th place.
Indiana heads to Des Moines, Iowa in two weeks for the NCAA Championships on June 6-9. For complete coverage of all things IU track and field, stay tuned to IUHoosiers.com.
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