Drouin, Sherrill named Big Ten Field Athletes of the Year
May 26, 2010
Several Hoosiers brought home some hardware on May 19 as the Big Ten Conference announced its postseason honors. Derek Drouin and Faith Sherrill were both honored as Big Ten Field Athletes of the Year as well as Big Ten Field Athletes of the Championships.
Photo by Mike Dickbernd/IU Athletics
Derek Drouin
Eight Hoosiers earned All-Big Ten accolades, with Molly Beckwith, Faith Sherrill, Derek Drouin, Andrew Poore and De'Sean Turner claiming first team honors and Kelsie Ahbe, Sarah Pease and Ashley Rhoades being named to the second team.
"We had several student-athletes really step up and perform well at the Big Ten meet," said Indiana director and head coach Ron Helmer. "Any time you can get eight people performing at an All-Big Ten level, good things are going to happen. It was nice to have five of our kids win Big Ten titles in front of a home crowd."
Beckwith won IU's fifth Big Ten title in the 800m with a time of 2:04.11. The Worthington, Ohio, native won her second career Big Ten crown by a margin of more than 2.5 seconds. She is the first Hoosier to win the event since 1997.
Sherrill won the shot put with a Big Ten Championship heave of 17.03m (55 feet-10.5 inches). Sherrill bettered defending champion and former record holder Aja Evans by 10.25 inches. Sherrill is the second Hoosier ever to put the shot more than 17 meters, joining IU legend Katrin Koch. Sherrill's title is the first by a Hoosier woman in the shot put since 2001, when Jennifer Brown took the gold medal. Sherrill joins defending national champion Mariam Kevkhishvilli of Florida as the only two throwers to better the 17-meter mark this season.
Photo by Mike Dickbernd/IU Athletics
Faith Sherrill
Drouin won his third career Big Ten high jump crown, and his second straight outdoor title. Drouin cleared 2.21m (7 feet-3 inches) to win by 3.5 inches. He was the only athlete to clear 7 feet. Drouin won the the indoor crown earlier this year, making this his third straight title. Drouin was also named the Big Ten Field Athlete of the Year during the indoor season.
Turner and Poore finished one-two in the steeplechase. Turner's time of 8:43.72 is the fifth-fastest in IU history and ranks among the nation's top-10 this season. Poore finished in 8:44.10, which is the sixth-best in IU lore. He ranks 11th in Division I this season. The two Hoosiers finished nearly three seconds ahead of the third-place runner.
Poore won the 5,000m by more than three seconds, becoming IU's first 5,000m winner since Bob Kennedy won the event three straight years (1990-92). Poore was in second with 200 meters left and took the lead, pulling away from the field all the way to the finish for a time of 13:49.23. His time is the seventh-best in school history. Poore finished second in the steeplechase on Saturday.
Ahbe earned All-Big Ten honors with a second-place finish in the pole vault. Ahbe cleared 4.00m (13 feet-1.5 inches) and bettered Big Ten record holder Alicia Rue of Minnesota via tiebreakers.
Pease clocked a school-record time of 9:59.16. She and Penn State's Bridget Franek each bettered the Billy Hayes Track record. Pease improves on a third-place finish in the event last season. She is the first Hoosier to break 10 minutes in the event.
Ashley Rhoades cleared the winning height in the high jump, but took second after tiebreakers. The senior cleared 1.80m (5 feet-10.75 inches) to match Rebecca Buchholtz of Michigan State. Rhoades finished second on the second criteria of tiebreakers.
