March 2, 2003
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The No. 9 Purdue men's track and field team and the unranked Purdue women's team finished their first days of competition at their respective Big Ten Indoor Championships on Saturday. The women are competing at Indiana University's Harry C. Gladstein Fieldhouse, while the men are in Champaign, Ill., competing at Illinois' Armory.
After the first day of competition, the men's team sits in fourth place with 26 points. Highlighting the day's performances, senior Hence 'Pooh' Williams won the 2003 pole vault title with a jump of 5.20m (17' ?") and sophomore Nedzad Mulabegovic finished as the runner up in the shot put with a throw of 19.16m (62' 10 ?").
In the long jump, sophomore Jamar Green finished sixth with a jump of 7.34m (24' 1"). Classmate Kern Woods finished 10th with a jump of 7.02m (23' ?').
Also in the shot put, junior Scott Hecht finished sixth with a throw of 17.93m (58' 10"). Senior Chris White tossed a distance of 16.25m (53' 3 ?") for 12th place.
In the heptathlon events, Williams finished second in the long jump, third in the shot put, and fourth in the high jump. Junior Kevin White was 12th in the long jump, 10th in the shot put, and ninth in the high jump.
In the sprint events, senior Prentice Stovall tallied the fastest 60m dash time in 6.72 seconds, while Joey Harris finished first in his head in 6.81 seconds and Jacques Reeves was second in 6.85 seconds. In the third heat, Kenneth Baxter was first with a time of 6.74.
Stovall finished first again in the first heat of the 60m hurdles with a time of 7.90, while Matt Simmons finished fourth. In the second heat, Jerod Void finished first in 8.01 and Woods was third in 8.22 seconds.
In the 200m dash, Green finished second in the first heat in a time of 21.73 and in the third heat, Baxter and Harris finished 1-2 in 21.24 and 22.31.
In the 400m dash trials, freshman Dedrick Tillerson was fourth in the first heat with a time of 49.56. Brad Bolyard finished third in the fourth heat with a time of 51.19 and in the 600m run, Brodric Wells finished fourth in the third head with a time of 1:23.28.
Sophomore Jon Hoggatt finished fourth in the first heat of the 800m run with a time of 1:55.34, while the distance medley relay team finished seventh with a time of 10:16.18.
On the women's side, the Boilermakers sit in fourth place with 32 points behind leader Michigan, second-place Indiana and third-place Wisconsin. In the 60m dash, Shanette Stewart and LaShauna Harris qualified for the semi-finals race and finished 13th and 15th, respectively.
In the 200m dash prelims, Ragina Harvey finished 14th in 25.30, Harris was 16th in 25.39, and Stewart was 17th in 25.98. In the 400m dash prelims, Harvey qualified for the finals on Sunday, while Ashley Kemp and Ina Jackson finished 13th and 20th, respectively.
In the mile run, freshman Laura Farley qualified for the finals race with a time of 4:57.05 and Christan Bahler finished 14th with a time of 5:09.40. In the 800m run, Kim Jordan is the defending Big Ten champion and finished with the top qualifying time of 2:11.15. Also finishing the 800m run, Meghan McNeilly and Kelly VanAbeele finished 12th and 15th. In the 3000m run, Kara Lahey finished 16th, while Kaleena Cappel did not finish the race.
The top finishers in the field events for the Old Gold and Black were the pole vaulters, as Simona Kovacic won the Big Ten title with a jump of 3.91m (12' 10"). Senior Amy Spellmeyer finished fourth with a jump of 12' 5", while Jocelyn Lindsay was ninth and Katie Rorem finished 12th.
In the long jump, Jan Eichenauer finished sixth with a jump of 5.64m (18' 6"). Tiffany Britten finished 12th in the shot put with a toss of 14.43m (47' 4 ?") and in the pentathlon, Angela Anoliefoh finished second with a score of 3,705 points, while Desiree Jones finished third with 3,632 points. Shanna Carter finished in 14th place with a score of 3,085 points.
Both the Boilermaker men and women will return to the oval on Sunday morning to wrap up the second day of competition. Contests begin at 9 a.m.
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