April 26, 2012
Track and Field contact - Kyle Johnson (krj@indiana.edu)
Drouin, Beckwith, Neville Winners on Final Day at Penn
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - Indiana track and field had a good day to close out the Penn Relays, with Derek Drouin winning the high jump title and alumni Molly Beckwith and David Neville both claiming Penn Relays watches in Olympic Development competition. Beckwith took the win in the Olympic Development WomenÂ’s Mile by 3.4 seconds, and David Neville took the win in the USA vs. the World MenÂ’s Distance Medley as the 400-meter leg for USA Blue.
Drouin wins his second Penn Relays title in the high jump, as he won in 2010. The junior cleared 2.22m (7-3.25) for the win, the same height it took to win two years ago. Drouin wins IndianaÂ’s fourth Penn Relays title in the event, with his two being joined by Cal Boyd (1954) and John Lynn Miller (1908). Drouin and Montez Blair of Cornell each cleared 2.22m, with Drouin winning with fewer misses in the competition. An improvement of two centimeters on his season best, Drouin moves into a tie for seventh nationally on the season.
Beckwith won the womenÂ’s Olympic Develoment Mile in 4:36.71, which was 3.39 seconds better than the second-place runner. Beckwith took the lead with 300 meters to go and left the field in her dust.
Neville ran 46.7 on the 400-meter leg of the USA vs. the World Distance Medley Relay. His USA Blue squad won in 9:19.31, bettering USA Red by .57. The win was part of a 6-0 sweep for the United States in the USA vs. the World events at this yearÂ’s Penn Relays.
Kind Butler took third in the menÂ’s 100m dash championship race, clocking a time of 10.50. Butler qualified for the final for the second-consecutive season.
In the menÂ’s 4xMile Championship of America, IU took third in 16:18.20. Andy Bayer clocked the fastest split in the entire race, 3:58.2, on the anchor for the Hoosiers.
Olumide Olamigoke and Rex Parker took fourth and fifth in the championship section of the menÂ’s triple jump. Olamigoke jumped 15.64m (51-3.75), tying his outdoor career mark for fourth, and Parker recorded a career best hop, skip and jump of 15.45m (50-8.25). OlamigokeÂ’s jump is the seventh-best in IU history and Parker added five centimeters to his career mark.
In the womenÂ’s 4x800-meter relay Championship of America, Breanne Ehrman, Jordan Gray, Arianne Raby and Ruth Christopher clocked a time of 8:44.04 for fifth place. Jordan Gray had the best split for IU, clocking a time of 2:09.1.
Butler also ran the second leg on IndianaÂ’s 4x200 meter relay, clocking a time of 1:24.36 for sixth place in the Championship of America. The Hoosiers squad of Tyler Sult, Butler, Chris Vaughn and Nick Stoner qualified IU for the finals in the event for the second-straight season.
Indiana concludes the regular season with the Billy Hayes Invitational on Friday, May 4. For complete coverage of all things IU track and field, stay tuned to IUHoosiers.com.