April 4, 2003
AUSTIN, Texas - Purdue's track and field team is off to a very impressive start at the Texas Relays. In their first full day of competition Friday, the Boilermakers placed second in the preliminaries of the 4x100 meter relay, third in the javelin and fourth in the long jump.
The 4x100 team of Kenneth Baxter, Jamar Green, Jacques Reeves and Prentice Stovall stunned the crowd in Austin, Texas after finishing first in their preliminary heat, beating out teams from Stanford, Mississippi and Oklahoma. The Boilermakers' time of 39.98 seconds was the second best time of the day (Houston - 39.89), and is currently the second fastest time in the nation.
LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Southern, Stanford, UTEP, and Wichita State will join Purdue and Houston in Saturday's finals.
Green later leaped past the NCAA Regional Championship qualifying mark of 7.32 meters after reaching a distance of 7.46 (24 feet, 5 3/4 inches) in the long jump. The sophomore's effort landed him in fourth place, finishing behind BYU's Aron Szmuda, LSU's Traun Smith and Rice's Tommy Olesky.
Reeves and Stovall placed 11th and 12th, respectively, in the 100 meter dash. Reeves crossed the line in 10.46, and Stovall in 10.47. Both competitors qualified to run in Saturday's invitational final, which begins at 2:40 p.m.
Brian Smith saved one of the Boilermakers' best performances for last Friday night. The junior, who qualified for regionals at last weekend's Purdue Invitational, placed third overall in the javelin with a launch of 63.92 meters (209 feet, 8 inches), and again broke the regional standard.
Thursday night, senior Krissy Liphardt placed second in her preliminary heat and 14th overall in the 400-meter hurdles. The Boilermakers' lone female individual track competitor recorded a time of 1:01.69, just missing the NCAA regional qualifying mark of 1:01.50.
Saturday will be an active day for most of the Purdue contingency with senior pole vaulters Amy Spellmeyer and Simona Kovacic leading off the field event session at 12 p.m. Senior Shaun Guice and sophomore Derek Watkins take part in the high jump at 2 p.m., and will be followed by senior Hence "Pooh" Williams' attempt in the pole vault at 3 p.m.
Baxter, Green, Reeves and Stovall will compete in two relays Saturday. The quartet will run the 4x200 at 12:45 p.m., before competing in the finals of the 4x100 at 2 p.m.
Complete results of the Texas Relays can be found at www.texassports.com.