April 12, 2003
OXFORD, Ohio - Pole vaulters Simona Kovacic and Amy Spellmeyer finished one-two Saturday at the Miami Invitational, leading Purdue's women's track and field team to a third-place showing with 141 points.
Kovacic's victorious leap of 4 meters (13-1 1/2) was a season and personal best and established a new meet record. The senior, who placed fourth at the Purdue Invitational and tied for second at last weekend's Texas Relays, earned her first win of the season after topping Spellmeyer and Miami's Tabitha Swartz by over one foot.
Spellmeyer's second-place height of 3.66 meters (12 feet) was high enough to qualify her for a spot at the NCAA Regional Tournament, where she will join teammates Kovacic and Hence "Pooh" Williams, who both punched their tickets earlier this season.
Williams was only one of ten male Boilermakers present at the Miami Invite. Despite the small roster, the Purdue men still placed a respectable sixth, collecting 44 points. The senior's win in the pole vault (5.00, 16-4 3/4) was one of two victories collected by the men's team; distance runner David Rae won the 3,000 meter run with a time of 9 minutes, 17.19 seconds.
Kim Jordan collected her third straight win in the 800, completing her lap in 2:11.70; Jordan also won the 800 title at the Purdue Invite and at the Ohio State Relays. Teammate Meghan McNeilly placed second, finishing in 2:12.85.
Both Jordan and McNeilly significantly cut down their 800 times. Jordan's previous season best was well over the 2:15.00 mark, and McNeilly's last two attempts were over 2:18.00.
Gina Harvey's short two meet winning streak in the 400 came to end, despite recording her fastest time of the season at 55.13, which was only .13 seconds off the regional qualifying standard of 55.00. Harvey also registered a season best in the 200, finishing second in 24.54 seconds.
Purdue's women collected several silver-medals throughout the afternoon, including LaShauna Harris in the 100 (12.27), Amber Ferner in the 3,000 (10:52.74), and Angela Anoliefah in the Javelin (36.63, 120-2). Both the 4x100 (47.04) and 4x400 (3:45.87) relay teams also placed second.
The 4x400 squad's time was especially impressive since it was nearly 15 seconds faster than its previous season best of 4:02.15.
Krissy Liphardt's second place showing of 1:00.52 in the 400 hurdles qualified her for a spot at the regional championships. Liphardt's time was her fastest of the season by over one second.
"We had no intentions of trying to win the team title, we just wanted to qualify more of our athletes for the NCAA Regionals and we accomplished that task," said Purdue assistant coach Monica Gray. "I was very pleased with how our younger athletes competed; they recorded a number of personal and season bests and were able to finish among the top three in a lot of events."
Saturday's meet featured nine men and seven female squads. Ball State stole the men's team title with 210 points and Miami easily captured the women's title with 253 points.
Purdue's track and field teams will split up again next weekend. The Boilermakers will compete at the Mt. Sac Relays in Walnut, Calif. from April 17-19 and at the Butler Invitational in Indianapolis on April 19.