Track & Field 2k22: Indiana Preview

Yes it is early, but we are kicking off the "Track & Field 2k22" season. The theme of the season is "Rise of the Woman." The meaning of the theme is that it is simply time. It is time for women's sports to have a serious space in the minds of sports fans. We are not comparing women's sports to men's sports. Women's sports are unique and show everyone that times are progressing and anything is possible.

The Indiana Hoosiers were second at the Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships meet after tying for sixth during the indoor conference championship. Their top returning sprinters are Alyssa Robinson and Natalie Price.

Robinson, a junior from Indianapolis, Indiana, represented her home state well scoring tons of points at the Big Ten outdoor meet. She placed second in the 200 meters, third in the 100 meters and third in the 1,600-meter relay. Robinson also posted points for Indiana as a fourth of the 400-meter relay squad. Price, a Granville, Ohio native is a redshirt senior, who placed second in the 400 meters at the Big Ten outdoor meet. She also teamed with Robinson for that 1,600-meter relay bronze medal, along with teammates Morgan Snow and Lauren Thomas.

Bailey Hertenstein scored a third place finish in the 1,500 meters at the Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships with a time of 4:14.13, which is the best finish of her career. During the indoor season the senior from Lithia, Florida was the conference runner-up in the mile and placed sixth in the 3,000 meters. In 2020, Hertenstein won the 3,000 meters at the Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships.

Lancaster, Ohio native and senior Hope Purcell is expecting to have a big year in the multi-events. She just missed medaling at the Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships in the pentathlon with a fourth place finish. Purcell also placed fourth in 2019. This year and in 2019 she registered sixth place finishes in the heptathlon during the Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships in the heptathlon.

Sophomore Mahogany Jenkins, of Green Brook, New Jersey, had a strong 2021 in the triple jump. After placing seventh at the Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships, she earned a medal with a third place finish at the outdoor conference meet with an personal best jump of 12.66.

Anna Watson is Indiana's top pole vaulter. The redshirt senior from Lewis Center, Ohio was the Big Ten outdoor champ in 2019 and since then she has placed third at the 2020 indoor meet and third at the 2021 outdoor meet. After a fifth place finish in the NCAA East Preliminary Round, she qualified for the NCAA Track & Field Championships where she placed 12th in the national final.

Another Ohio native, Maddy Pollard, a redshirt senior also qualified for the NCAA Track & Field Championships when she placed third at the NCAA East Preliminary Round in shot put competition. She placed ninth at the NCAA championships. During the indoor season Pollard was third at the Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships and seventh at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships. In 2019 she was eighth at the NCAA outdoor meet.

Another athlete to watch at Indiana is Princess Brinkley who placed fourth in the weight throw competition at the Big Ten Indoor Track and Field Championships last season. In 2019 she qualified for the NCAA indoor final, where she placed 16th.

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