April 15, 2003
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue track and field continues its competitive swing this weekend at the Mt. San Antonio College Relays in Walnut, Calif. The meet, now in its 45th season, features athletes from 45 colleges and universities and from 12 international teams.
The Boilermakers have faced some steep competition the previous weeks at the Texas and Sea Ray Relays, but the field at Mt. SAC will provide Purdue with its biggest challenge to date. Schools from every region of the country will send representitives to the meet, including nationally ranked Brigham Young, Mississippi State, Georgia, Stanford and Indiana State.
Purdue's men's team is ranked No. 21 in the lastest Trackshark.com poll (April 9), but most of its roster will stay local this weekend for the Indy Relays at Butler University on Saturday. The men's West Coast crew consists of pole vaulter Hence "Pooh" Williams, javelin thrower Brian Smith and distance runners David Rae, Kyle Orender and Robert Heise.
Shanna Carter and Angela Anoliefah kick off Purdue's extended weekend competing in the heptathlon starting Wednesday morning. This will be the Boilermakers' first running of the heptathlon, this season and both athletes will need to score well over 5,000 points to be considered for an appearance at the NCAA Regional Championships.
The women's squad is represented throughout most of the track and field events. NCAA regional qualfiers Simona Kovacic and Amy Spellmeyer are coming off a 1-2 finish in the pole vault at the Miami (Ohio) Invitational and will expect to improve on their season-high marks. Also competing in the field is assistant coach Carri Long, who won the high jump at last weekend's Sea Ray Relays in Knoxville, Tenn. Long will be competing as a member of the Indiana Invaders track club.
Krissy Liphardt looks to be receiving the most exercise this weekend, competing in the 100 and 400 meter hurdles and the 4x100 and 4x400 meter relays. Liphardt qualified for regionals in the 400 hurdles at Miami, but is on the verge of qualifying in the three other events. She is just .41 seconds off from qualifying in the 100 hurdles and .37 seconds away in the 4x400.
Purdue will also feature competitors in the both sprints, the 400, 800 and the 1,500 meter runs.
In addition to the Mt. SAC relays, the Boilermakers are scheduled to compete at the one day Pomona-Pitzer meet on Friday. Many of the same athletes will be participating in this smaller event, which is held at Pomona College in nearby Claremont, Calif.
The Pomona College meet showcases a number of local universities as well as strong opposition from Arkansas, Florida, LSU, Washington and Wisconsin. Competition begins Friday morning at 10:15 Purdue time and is expected to conclude at 6 p.m.
Purdue's third meet of the weekend, the Indy Relays, starts Saturday at noon with the hammer throw and shot put competitions; running events are scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. The Boilermakers are sending 16 male and 13 female competitors to Michael A. Carroll Track & Field Stadium, including Tiffany Britten, Mia Burki, Nedzad Mulabegovic and Prentice Stovall.
Live results of the Mt. SAC Relays can be accessed through its web address at http://vm.mtsac.edu/relays/. A link for this meet has also been established at www.trackshark.com.
Butler University and Pomona College's athletic web sites will provide complete results after competition has ended. Purdue sports information will provide recaps of all three meets throughout the weekend at www.purduesports.com.
The Old Gold and Black finally return home to Rankin Track and Field on Friday, April 25 for the Boilermaker Invitational. The two-day meet begins Friday at 3 p.m. and Saturday at 9 a.m. Purdue hosts Indiana in a dual meet on Saturday May 3 to conclude the home season.