May 17, 2003
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - Purdue's Shaun Guice added another accolade to his trophy case after winning a third outdoor Big Ten championship in the high jump. Guice won the title with a leap of 2.21 meters (7 feet, 3 inches), which is just 1/4 inch short of his career best.
Boilermaker Derek Watkins joined Guice on the medal stand capturing third place. Watkins' bronze-medal winning leap was a personal best of 2.15 (7-0 1/2).
After the bar was raised to the 7-3 mark, the competition was down to Guice and Minnesota's Kevin Netzer. Guice, a six-time All-American high jump, failed on his first two attempts but cleared on his third and final try. Only after Netzer fouled on his last try, did Guice celebrate his latest championship
"I feel so blessed and that's the absolute truth," said Guice. "God shined on me today. I haven't jumped well all year but that effort definitely gives me something to lean on going into (NCAA) regionals."
"I just couldn't be happier for Shaun," said Purdue head coach Lissa Olson. "To clear the bar on the final attempt, when all the pressure is on you, shows what a great competitor he is and how badly he wanted this championship. He has talked about winning here since the indoor championships. Hopefully his win will spark the team and give us all some momentum."
Shanna Carter also collected one of the championships' more prestigious medals after placing seccnd in the heptahlon with 4,937 points. The junior leaped a personal best of 5.66 (18-7) in the long jump, registered a distance of 30.25 (99-3) in the javelin and clocked a career best of 2:29.41 in 800. Teammates Jan Eichenauer (4,582) and Angela Anoliefoh (3,348) placed sixth and 11th, respecitvely. Anoliefoh competed in just five events after suffering an injury.
"I'm in complete shock. This was totally unexpected," said Carter. "I've been having a great time this whole trip; and I think its because I've been able to stay loose and have fun - that I've been able to succeed and record so many personal bests.
 Shanna Carter is congratulated by a Big Ten official after placing second in the heptathlon  | |
Tiffany Britten shattered the first school record of the weekend. Competing in the shot put, Britten launched a sixth-place effort of 15.34 (50-4), burying the previous school record of 14.63 (48-0), which had been held by Stacy Hartman since 1985.
Becoming the university's new record holder was a long overdue accomplishment for Britten, who finished a centimeter short of breaking Hartman's record two weeks ago at the home dual meet against Indiana.
Britten edged her way into the finals, recording distances of 44-11 and 48-10 in the prelims. After registering a mark of 46-00 in her first final throw, she then launched the record breaking mark.
Jamar Green had a solid fourth-place showing in the long jump, finishing with a distance of 7.50 (24-7 1/4), just a half-inch behind the third-place competitor, Ohio State's Drew Carter. Nedzad Mulabegovic also scored some points for the Boilermakers with a sixth-place throw in the discus (51.89, 170-3).
Much of Saturday's track competitions were preliminary heats for Sunday's finals. The big event for the Boilermakers was the 100-meter dash, where Joey Harris (10.52), Jacques Reeves (10.62), Prentice Stovall (10.47) and Kenneth Baxter (10.52) all qualified for the championship run.
The Purdue men are well represented in the 110 hurdles. The championship field will consist of Stovall (13.96), Jerod Void (14.34) and Kern Woods (14.56). Stovall's mark gives him sole possession of fifth-place on the school's all-time performance list.
Stovall (21.09), will also be part of the 200 field with teammates Baxter (21.05) and Green (21.30).
 Junior Tiffany Britten is Purdue's new school record holder in shot put | |
Megan McNeilly will race in the finals of the 800 after clocking a prelim time of 2:12.64 and Krissy Liphardt will be part of the eight-woman field in the 400 hurdles after crossing the line in 1:00.99.
The final day of competition kicks off Sunday at 11:40 a.m. with the women's triple jump. The first running race is the women's 4x100 meter relay, which commences at 12:45 p.m.
Track and field fans can follow the Big Ten Championships live at www.BigTen.org. The conference web site provides an updated schedule of events, quick results and updated team scores.
MEN'S BIG TEN STANDINGS (after two days)1. Minnesota 58.52. Ohio State 50.03. Purdue 43.04. Indiana 42.05. Wisconsin 29.06. Michigan 16.57. Penn State 12.08. Illinois 10.09. Iowa 8.010. Michigan State 4.0
WOMEN'S BIG TEN STANDINGS (after two days)1. Penn State 66.02. Michigan 51.03. Indiana 44.04. Iowa 30.05. Ohio State 29.0 Purdue 29.07. Michigan State 27.08. Illinois 18.09. Wisconsin 16.010. Minnesota 2.0