Feb. 9, 2002
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue men's track and field team finished second out of 14 of the nation's top programs at the Armory Collegiate Invitational in New York. The Boilermakers earned 61 points to finish second to defending national champion Tennessee (105 points). Louisiana State was third (49 points) ahead of fourth-place Stanford finished (38 points), fifth-place South Carolina (34 points) and sixth-place Texas. Big Ten competitor Ohio State finished 11th at the meet (16.5 points).
"This was a great meet for our athletes to not only compete against the best, but to be so competitive against so many of the nation's top teams," head coach Lissa Olson said. "Our guys now truly believe they can compete against any team in the country. This is a huge breakthrough for our team, especially heading into the Big Ten's in two weeks."
Purdue's onslaught of success was sparked by newcomer Nedzad Mulabegovic's record-breaking performance in the shot put. In only his second competition of the season, the rookie shattered Chris Brown's record (Feb. 25, 2001) of 62-2.50 with an NCAA automatic qualifying mark of 64-1.00.
"I am extremely pleased not only with Nedzad's ability to throw well, but with his great adjustment to Purdue academically and to living in a new country," Olson said. "Last week he was upset by his loss to an Ohio State thrower. He used that energy to not only defeat that thrower this week, but to surpass the whole field. Coach Zera is extremely excited about the huge talent this freshman is displaying."
Boilermaker Nick Swathwood raised his NCAA provisional mark in the shot with a throw of 60-11.50. Chris White was sixth in the event with a mark of 53-5.75.
All-American Shaun Guice won the high jump with an NCAA qualifying mark of 7-3.00. Ryan Fitzpatric earned points for Purdue by finishing fourth with a mark of 6-11.00. In the pole vault, Pooh Williams finished third and upped his NCAA provisional mark to 17-1.00. Daniel Harris finished fourth in the triple jump with a mark of 49-5.50.
Purdue's effort on the track was solid as well. Matt Hartman finished fifth in the 800m run with a time of 1:52.52. Donnie Fellows ran an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 8:06.39 in the 3,000m run.
The Boilermakers made impressive strides in the sprinting events. In the 200m dash, Jacques Reeves finished third behind Tennessee's defending national champion Justin Gatlin and teammate Leonard Scott with a season-best time of 21.41. Kenneth Baxter was fourth in 21.71. In the 60m dash, Prentice Stovall and Reeves finished fourth and fifth with the same time of 6.80. Stovall also placed seventh in the 60m hurdles in 8.03.
The women's team was faced with numerous injuries that forced a 12th of 14 place finish.
"It was obviously disappointing to not perform at the best ability level, but injuries really made the difference in our score today," Olson said. "We were missing some key people in key events, but we are striving to be healthy for the conference championships."
Rookie Lyndsay Zinn provisionally qualified in the 3,000m run with a time of 9:30.28. Janelle Johnson leaped a lifetime best for a sixth-place finish in the triple jump with a mark of 39-9.75. Shannon Kelley ran a lifetime best of 8.93 in the 60m hurdles.
In the pole vault, Simona Kovacic finished fifth and Katie Rorem was seventh with a mark of 11-11.75. School and Big Ten record holder Ebbie Metzinger could not compete due to injury.