May 17, 2002
MADISON, Wis. - When she jumps records fall. Senior Ebbie Metzinger did it again on Friday when she captured the pole vault title at the Big Ten Championships hosted by Wisconsin. Metzinger's performance earned 10 points to place Purdue in first place after the one event.
Metzinger cleared the bar at an NCAA provisional mark of 4.00m/13-1.50 to break her own Big Ten meet record and a McClimon Memorial Track record. A shoe-in for the NCAA Championships in Baton Rouge, La., on March 29, Metzinger sees today's performance as an opportunity to contribute to her team's success.
"It helps to motivate me when I realize the team is counting on me and my earning points," Metzinger said. "Usually when I compete, it's all about me and the bar, but at the Championships, the points are for all of us. Today's win will also help me to stay focused on the NCAA's. I've placed ninth three times, and it's now time to move up."
Keith McBride earned the first points for the Boilermaker men when he placed second in the hammer throw with an NCAA provisional and season-best mark of 62.18m/204-00.00. Iowa's Jim Costello won the event with a mark of 66.32m/217-7.00.
Rookie Desiree Jones represented the Old Gold and Black in the multi-events. Jones sits in third place of the heptathlon following four events, including the high jump where she leaped a career best of 1.71m/5-7.00 to place second. She also placed third in the 200m dash with a time of 26:21. Jones has 3,090 points behind Illinois' Camee Williams' 3,273 and Minnesota's Barbora Spotakova with 3,158.
The women throwers were up next. Cynthia Bortz, Lisa Davis and Serene Ross each threw well enough in the preliminaries to advance to finals action. While no official results for the hammer were available, it was confirmed that Ross placed third in the event
The evening ended on a high in both the men's and women's 10,000m run. Senior Ann Stechshulte cemented her trip to Baton Rouge with an NCAA automatic time of 34:01.58. This was Stechshulte's second time earning an automatic mark in the event. She crossed the finish line minutes ahead of her next competitor, Michigan State's Jamie Krzyminski in 34:05.20.
Donnie Fellows ran an NCAA provisional time of 29:41.22 to claim the 10,000m title. Fellows, who completed his cross country eligibility last year, was pleased with the outcome.
"This is exactly why I came back for one more year," Fellows said. "Team points are so important and I was glad that I could be a part of our good start. I'm hoping I can have the same type of performance on Sunday."
Saturday's events resume with the decathlon 110m hurdles at 9:30 a.m. Jones' heptathlon events begin at 10:15 with the long jump.