Horizon League Championship Highlights Busy Track Week

May 7, 2002

THIS WEEK: The Bulldogs face their most important competition of the outdoor season when they host the Horizon League Track and Field Championship on Thursday and Friday, May 9-10. The league championship meet will be held in downtown Indianapolis at the Michael A. Carroll Track and Soccer Stadium on the IUPUI campus. The first day of competition will begin at 5:30 p.m., while the final day is slated to start at 11 a.m. Butler's men placed second in last year's conference outdoor meet, while Butler's women came in fourth. Butler also will host the Bulldog Qualifier Meet at the IUPUI track and soccer stadium on Saturday, May 11, beginning at 1 p.m..

LONG DISTANCE OPERATOR: Butler senior Justin Young covered more than 4,000 miles to run 15,000 meters in a 24-hour period. The Butler distance All-American flew to California to compete in the 10,000 meter race at the Cardinal Invitational on Friday, May 3, with hopes of improving his chances for a berth in the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship. After posting a time of 29:56.96 in the race at Stanford University, Young flew back to Indianapolis to run in the 5,000 meter race at the Butler Twilight Meet on Saturday, May 4. He only needed to complete the race in order to qualify for the Horizon League Meet, but his competitive nature took over and he wound up placing seventh in the 52-runner field with a time of 14:50.42. Young is the reigning league champ in both the 5,000 and the 10,000, and he owns conference records in both events.

SPEED RACER: Sophomore Trent Elliott turned in an impressive performance at the Butler Twilight Meet and earned Horizon League "Track Athlete of the Week" honors. Elliott broke Butler's 33-year-old 400 meter hurdles record while placing third in a strong field in 52.72. The previous Butler record of 53.0 was set by Bill Jones in 1969. Elliott also ran in the 200 meter dash for the first time in his collegiate career and posted the fastest time by a Butler runner this spring - 22.30!

SEASON BESTS: Sophomore Rholonda Ash recorded a team season-best time of 57.79 in the 400 meter dash at the Butler Twilight Meet. Ash is the reigning 800 meter champ in the Horizon League...Junior Alex Hall, the reigning conference champ in the 100 meter dash, ran his first 100 meter race this spring at the Butler Twilight Meet and turned in a team season-best time of 11.23. Hall has won the league title in the 100 in each of the past two seasons and he owns the league 100 record (10.70).