Seventeen individuals advanced to the second day of competition at the Indiana Invitational, where the Ball State men's track team had several top performances during the weekend.
Senior Paul Panning took first place in the pole vault, setting a Ball State indoor record with a mark of 17-5 1/2 feet, more than one foot above the nearest competitor at 16-4 3/4.
The jump was good enough for Panning to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships March 12 in Fayetteville, Ark.
Two years ago, Panning sustained an injury that required getting stitches and just last year he broke a pole and injured his thumb. Both occurred at Indiana University, so Panning nearly did not go to the meet because of an ill-fated past.
"He came up to me because he was really apprehensive about going to IU," coach Jermaine Jones said. "I told him 'the past is just that.' Now he has a positive outlook on the place and can't wait to come back."
The team brought 30 members down to Bloomington for the two-day meet from Friday through Saturday, returning athletes in almost every event the second day.
"Once you get back in that second day your performance from Day One doesn't matter," Jones said. "It's about competition in Day Two. You start from scratch."
Junior Ben Daniel, who notched a personal record last year at Indiana University, finished in a tie for fifth in the high jump at 6-7 1/2.
The distance team also showed a strong performance with senior Aaron Hoover and freshman Justin Stadt taking third and eighth, respectively, in the 5,000-meter run. Hoover's time of 14:53.64 was a personal best.
"He looked strong throughout the entire race, from start to finish," Jones said. "That's about the best race I've ever seen him run."
The mile run also featured a solid freshman performance from Stephen Cohen, who finished sixth at 4:28.58, while senior teammate Jeremy Smith finished seventh, less than four tenths of a second behind Cohen.
"(Cohen) is about as tough as they come. He's going to be an awesome collegiate runner," Jones said. "Him and Stadt are just going to be tremendous. With three or four more years of training, the sky's the limit on what they're going to be able to do."
The team will compete next in Indianapolis at the Canon Classic this Friday.
Read More
Three Air Jam teams take home the win
October 12, 2012Nineteen teams shimmied, shook and flipped for a sold out John R. Emens Auditorium on Thursday night during the 25th annual Air Jam.
Bill Clinton Speaks at North Central High School
October 12, 2012Former President's Speech Could Have Effect on State Senate Race
