Sherrill shatters records to lead Hoosiers at Indiana Open
Jan. 12, 2011
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Indiana track and field program opened the 2011 season by hosting the Indiana Open. The relatively small meet produced big results as Faith Sherrill shattered a Big Ten record in the shot put and Derek Drouin came very close to tying another Big Ten record in the high jump, and both finished the day with the nation's top marks on the season. Indiana won 23 events on the day and finished the afternoon with national leaders in three events.
Photo by Mike Dickbernd/IU Athletics
Faith Sherrill
Coming into the day, Sherrill held the IU record in the shot put at 16.80m. With her first throw, she took the record books to a different level. Her heave of 18.00m (59-0.75) broke the Big Ten record by 2 feet and 6.5 inches, her school record by 3 feet 11.25 inches, the Gladstein Fieldhouse record by 3.5 inches and bettered the NCAA automatic qualifying standard by 3 feet 7.25 inches. In the young season, she is the only Div. I thrower to surpass 17 meters, let alone 18. Perhaps putting Sherrill's throw in perspective, teammate Monique Riddick posted a throw of 15.87m (52-1) for second place, which while nearly seven feet shorter than Sherrill's heave is still an impressive third on the Div. I national list.
Drouin cleared 2.27m (7-5.25) which ties him for the national lead in the high jump. He bettered the NCAA Automatic Qualifying standard of 2.24m. Drouin finished out with three solid attempts at 2.30m, which is the Big Ten record as well as a qualifying height for the IAAF World Indoor Championships. Drouin also showed some versatility by winning the 60m hurdles on the day as well in a career-best 8.16 seconds, which is the fifth-fastest time in IU history and ranks among the nation's top 30 this season.
Kelsey Duerksen clocked a time of 4:50.81 in the mile to take the nation's top spot. She was followed in by teammates Chelsea Blanchard (2nd, 4:51.00) and Samantha Ginther (3rd, 4:53.46) who rank second and seventh respectively on the national list. Duerksen also posted a win in the 800 meters on the day with a time of 2:15.67.
Chris Vaughn was the winner in the 200m in 21.64 seconds, good for seventh in Division I this year. Kind Butler posted a time of 6.80 to win the 60m dash, tying himself for 13th in the nation this season. Devin Pipkin was second in 6.85 for 27th on the national list.
Patrick Onye won the weight throw with a heave of 19.12m (62-8.75), which is the eighth-best mark this season in Division I. Emma Kimoto won the high jump, clearing 1.70m (5-7) to tie for the 10th-best mark this season, and Kristen Crawford won the weight throw with a heave of 18.84m (61-9.75) while Sherrill was second (18.78m (61-7.5)) and the pair of Hoosiers rank 13th and 15th in Div. I.
Other Hoosiers winning on the day were Kelsie Ahbe in the pole vault (3.90m (12-9.5)), Cedric Hudson in the long jump (7.03m (23-0.75)), Rex Parker in the triple jump (14.43m (47-4.25) and Derek Messmer in the pole vault (4.83m (15-10). The Hoosiers also got wins from Butler, Vaughn, Ryan Hindes and Matt Gerbick in the men's 4x400m relay with a time of 3:17.00 and Aireonna Bailey, Ann-Marie Clarke, Fabrina Espinoza and Ruth Christopher in the women's 4x400m relay in 3:53.66.
The Hoosiers return to action at Purdue in West Lafayette, Ind., on Saturday, Jan. 15, 2011.
