TF2K22: To Indiana

Indiana will host the Hoosier Open on Friday Dec. 10, to kick off its indoor track and field season. Here is a look at some of the events and athletes we are most looking forward to this weekend.

The women's 60 meters features Cincinnati All-American Caisja Chandler, who is coming off of a season where she competed at the USA Olympic trials. Chandler's top 60 meters time came last season at the Music City Challenge where she clocked in at 7.30. She will face three teammates in heat two as Victoria Abunaw and Alicia Thorpe will run beside her in lanes three and five respectively. In heat one Ball State's Michelle Lehmann will compete. She is one of the top sprinters in the Mid American Conference.

Abunaw will be one of thee representatives for Cincinnati in the 60-meter hurdles. In heat two, she will face Sarah Bruns who won the pentathlon at last season's Mid-American Conference indoor championship meet. Abunaw looks to continue to climb the ranks at the American Athletic Conference. She placed sixth in 2020 at the conference's indoor championship meet, with a personal best time of 8.53, which resulted in a sixth place finish.

Abunaw will also compete with Chandler in the 300 meters. Indiana's Alyssa Robinson will participate in heat one against the Cincinnati duo. Robinson is one of the top sprinters in the Big Ten. She placed second in the 200 meters and third in the 100 meters during the conference outdoor championship meet.

The distance races are heavy with Hoosiers. Four of the 10 participants in the 3,000 meters are competing for Indiana. Sophomores Sarah Schmitt and Anna Barrott with freshmen Mariah Wehrle and Gracie Sprankle are scheduled to approach the starting line for the home team.

Four more will run take place in a nine-woman 1,000 meters field. Seniors Kelly Mindak and Hannah Stoffel will compete alongside teammates Mikaela Ramirez (freshman) and Jenna Barker (sophomore).

In the throwing competitions Jayden Ulrich makes her debut for the Hoosiers. She was the Gatorade Player of the Year for the state of Illinois during her final high school season. She will participate in the weight throw and shot put.

Last year's Mid-American Conference heptathlon winner Karlie Zumbro of Ball State will compete in the long jump. She will also participate in the 60-meter hurdles. A strong athlete going against Zumbro is Cincinnati's Kennedy Marable, who will be competing in the triple jump as well. Last season Marable was the runner-up in the triple jump at the American Athletic outdoor championship meet. During indoor season she was third in the triple jump and fifth in the long jump at the conference meet.

More athletes to watch include: Cincinnati's Sydney Spears, Calista Manns and Hope Purcell in heat one of the 60-meter hurdles. Saint Louis' Abby Cibulka in heat two of the 60-meter hurdles as well as the long jump. Indiana's Paola Fernandez-Sola, Mahogany Jenkins and Nichole Flowers in the long jump. Cincinnati's Anya Dees in the long jump and triple jump.

Indiana's Taylor Jarosinski starts her collegiate career after winning the state championship as a high school athlete in the pole vault. She competes in a field of four competitors who are all freshmen. That field includes Indiana freshman Windsor Roberts, Cincinnati's Noelle Meeker and Saint Louis' Carolyn Tarpey.

Later in the evening, will be two heats in the 1,600-meter relay. Faith Banks of Cincinnati joins her aforementioned teammates, Chandler, Thorpe and Manns. Indiana, Lipscomb and Ball State all have two teams that will compete in each heat. Other schools competing in the 1,600-meter relay are McKendree and Lindsey Wilson.