Feb. 23, 2002
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue men's track and field team found much success in Day One of the Big Ten Track and Field Championships held at Minnesota. The Boilermakers are in second place after four events with 27 points. The Golden Gophers edged the Old Gold and Black by four points to hold first, while Wisconsin is one point behind Purdue in third with 26 points.
West Lafayette native Prentice Stovall had a stellar day in the preliminaries of the 60m dash and 60m hurdle events. Stovall led the field in the 60m dash with an NCAA provisional and conference championship record of 6.71. The season-best time for any Boilermaker in the event shattered Vinny Sutherland's 1997 school record of 6.79 and tied a Minnesota fieldhouse record. Stovall's success spilled over into the 60m hurdles, where he tied his own school record in 7.97.
Sophomore Kenneth Baxter led the competition with an NCAA provisional time of 21.43 in the 200m dash to qualify for tomorrow's finals. 2001 Big Ten Freshman of the Year Jacques Reeves will also compete in Sunday's finals, after turning in a time of 21.58. The pair both ran the 60m dash in 6.77 to join Stovall in the championship event.
Purdue had three athletes score in the shot put. The Old Gold and Black was fueled by freshman Nedzad Mulabegovic's first-place performance with an NCAA automatic mark of 19.29m/63-3.50. Senior Nick Swathwood placed fifth with an NCAA provisional mark of 17.85m/58-6.75, while Scott Hecht was sixth with a toss of 16.84m/55-3.00.
Rookie Jamar Green placed third the long jump. The season-best mark of 7.35m/24-1.50. Classmate Kern Woods also earned points for the Boilermakers with an eighth-place finish and mark of 6.70m/21-11.75.
Senior Donnie Fellows placed sixth in the 3,000m run with a time of 8:18.01. Classmate Matt Hartman qualified for the finals of the 600m dash with a time of 1:19.34. The distance medley relay team, comprised of Jon Hoggatt, Green, Bob Caplinger and Robert Heise, placed eighth with a time of 10:18.03.
Sunday's action begins at 9:00 a.m., and the men's pole vault competition will resume. Complete results can be found at www.bigten.org.