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Indiana Daily Student | idsnews.com
SPRING 2020 SPORTS GUIDE
TRACK AND FIELD
Adam Coulon soars to new heights with IU By Matt Smith mrs30@iu.edu | @mattsmith1401
The crowd begins silent but then a slow clap starts as IU senior Adam Coulon begins to run toward the pole vault pit. He jumps, then the celebration starts as he clears another height. Coulon, 21, has been pole vaulting ever since he was a little kid with the help of his father. Now as a senior, he's found success early on this season. He has a four-meet winning streak and a personal best mark of 5.65 meters. “My dad was a jumper in high school and went on to do it in college,” Coulon said. “In fifth grade, he started me with a pole in the backyard with some selfmade standards.” Coulon said that his success started when he was in seventh grade and continued into his freshman year of high school, where he won the Illinois state championship. However, he wasn’t always successful in high school. Coulon became interested in other sports such as basketball and marching band, so he began to back off track a little bit. When he got to college, it took Coulon a little bit to adjust to the training and new competition that the Division I level brought. But he hit his stride sophomore year. “He’s just awesome, because he goes about his business, he works hard every single weekend, he cares about the team and the people around him,” IU head coach Ron Helmer said. “He sets a good example for everybody.” A new opportunity that Coulon has found this year is mentoring freshman standout Nathan Stone. “Coming in my freshman year, I had teammates to look up to, and it’s huge to have a mentor, showing you what to do if you get banged up.” Coulon said. “Nathan is great and is going to be really good, and it’s awesome for him as a freshman to have people to jump with and push him.” Stone was an accomplished freshman coming
ALEX DERYN | IDS
Senior pole vaulter Adam Coulon puts his fist in the air after a teammate jumps Jan. 24 in Gladstein Fieldhouse. Coulon has a four-meet winning streak and a personal best mark of 5.65 meters.
in. He was ranked the number two pole vaulter, according to MaxPreps, and was the Indiana state champion. ”It’s nice that (Coulon) is bringing me along for the ride because if he jumps high, I jump high, and there's a common theme,
and it’s a really great environment,” Stone said. “It’s the most fun I’ve ever had competing.” The Hoosiers have three pole vaulters this year competing at a high level in Coulon, Stone, and junior Brock Mammoser.
“Meets are really fun with Brock and Nathan, and it’s not about how one of us does, it’s about how we do as a group,” Coulon said. Coulon has set many goals for himself as he ends his collegiate career including going to the NCAA
championships and going to the Olympic Trials. Coulon said that he believes that he, Mammoser and Stone can make the Trials this summer. As Coulon gets ready for the Big Ten Indoor Championship, he wants to continue his success from the
early part of the season. “I think as long as I keep working hard in practice and in the weight room that I can do something really special and get on that national stage and make a name for IU as a big vaulting school,” Coulon said.
Stanhope’s journey from homeschool to IU By Luke Christopher Norton lcnorton@iu.edu | @lcnorton31
IU freshman Elizabeth Stanhope's track career began in middle school. She tried basketball and soccer, trying to find what worked best for her. Playing soccer helped her discover a strength for running. It's what led to the start of her track career. Stanhope went from being a homeschooled athlete to enrolling in a single class to join the track and field team at Pike High School in Indianapolis, where she ultimately set a new state record in the 800-meter before arriving at IU. During her time at Pike, Stanhope was coached by IU alumni and former middle-distance athlete Courtney Brown. Brown emphasized that Stanhope is quiet and shy, but opened up out of her shell. “She wants to be the best,” Brown said. “I think with her, when she decides it’s go time, look out.” Stanhope’s defining moment was the state meet during her senior year, when she beat her previous personal record by three seconds in the 800-meter. “Everything worked out how it was supposed to,” Stanhope said. Stanhope did far more than simply beat her personal record with this time, but the Indiana High School Athletic Association state record itself, cementing herself as a top college prospect with a time of 2:06.62. Stanhope ultimately decided to stay within the state for college, feeling that she could improve at IU. “Elizabeth’s a typical freshman, except for the
COURTESY OF IU ATHLETICS
Freshman Elizabeth Stanhope runs Feb. 14 in Gladstein Fieldhouse. Stanhope began track in middle school.
fact that she came to us as the best Indiana high school 800-meter runner of all time,” IU head coach Ron Helmer said. Helmer noted the jump from high school to Big Ten competition is a large one, particularly for middle-distance events. But Stanhope has handled the transition with maturity. “As she’s worked her way through the process she’s starting to show us that, in fact, she is that high-level
athlete,” Helmer said "I love her work ethic, I love her attitude." Stanhope has competed in all of the team’s meets so far and had one of her best performance at the University of Notre Dame’s Meyo Invitational on Feb. 5, taking fourth place with a time of 1:30.61 in the 600-meter. “I’m really glad it happened,” Stanhope said “The couple weeks before that weren’t great, but I guess it was a breakout race.” Stanhope earned her
first victory as a Hoosier on Feb. 14, taking first place in the 600-meter at home during Hoosier Hills. Stanhope, who prefers running with others to being alone, credits her teammates for what has helped her improve. Brown said during her time at Pike, she would run by herself, passing by her teammates. Her teammates countered this by staggering themselves around the track as Stanhope ran. Whenever
she would get ahead, there would always be a teammate waiting to join her to ensure that she wouldn’t be running alone. The support from her teammates has continued during her transition to collegiate athletics at IU. Stanhope worked out on her own over winter break, but found that she preferred to practice with her teammates, who push one another to improve. “They’re just really encouraging,” Stanhope said.
“You’re having a bad day, and they’ll just push you to keep with them.” For Helmer, such support from teammates is an important point of emphasis for the program as an expectation among the team. With her past success at the high school level, development over her freshman season and the support of her teammates by her side, Stanhope hopes to continue her success going forward.