May 30, 2003
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Purdue junior Keith McBride made history Friday at the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships, becoming the first Boilermaker to reach the NCAA Track and Field Championships through the regional process. McBride placed fourth in the hammer throw with a launch of 62.17 meters (204 feet).
Since McBride placed among the top five, he'll head to the NCAA National Championship meet in Sacramento, Calif., on June 11. McBride's throwing teammates John Paul Smolenski and Scott Hecht placed sixth and seventh, respectively, so they must wait and see if they receive an at-large bid from the NCAA track and field committee. Their invitation will largely depend on how athletes from the other three regions (East, Midwest and West) perform this weekend.
High jumper Shaun Guice will return to the NCAA Championships with hopes of attaining a seventh All-America citation. The 2003 outdoor Big Ten champion placed second at the regional meet with a leap of 2.13 (6-11 3/4).
Simona Kovacic became the first female Boilermaker to advance to this season's NCAA Championships after recording a personal record leap of 4.02 (13-2 1/4) in the pole vault. The native of Etobicoke, Ontario was joined in the finals by teammates Megan Darraugh and Meghan McKenzie, who placed 15th and 21st, respectively.
A bronze medalist at the 2003 Big Ten Outdoor Championships, Kovacic's third-place leap Friday topped the attempts given by conference rivals Tara Clack (Wisconsin), Emily Tharpe (Indiana) and Elizabeth Boyle (Michigan) during Friday's competition. Clack won the Big Ten pole vault title with a leap of 3.91 (12-10).
The 4x100 team of Kenneth Baxter, Jamar Green, Jacques Reeves and Prentice Stovall impressed the Columbus crowd with its third-place preliminary showing. The squad qualified for Saturday's final after clocking a time of 39.67 seconds, which is its second fastest of the season. Purdue was also one of four teams to break the Jesse Owens track record previously set by Alabama in 2002 (40.11).
LSU (39.36), Middle Tennessee State (39.60) and Toledo (40.04) were the other three programs that passed the Crimson Tide's year-old record.
Purdue, which entered the Mideast Regional as the 4x100's No. 6 seed, clocked a faster time than Tennessee (40.45), Mississippi State (40.52) and host Ohio State (40.37). The Boilermakers will have to record a similar or faster time on Saturday, since the NCAA only accepts the top three relay teams from each region to compete at the national championships.
Late Friday, Baxter and Reeves qualified for the 200-meter dash finals. Reeves completed the race in 21.47 and Baxter in 21.56, making them the only non-SEC speedsters competing in Saturday's eight-man championship. The Boilermaker tandem will be joined by three Mississippi State Bulldogs, a member of the Crimson Tide, an LSU Tiger and an Arkansas Razorback.
Unfortunately, Baxter and Reeves could not match that same type of success in the 100 prelims. Baxter registered the team's fastest time with a personal best of 10.44; Stovall (10.45) and Reeves (10.49) followed in right behind him.
Despite missing the qualifying cut by fractions of a second, all three Boilermakers finished higher than their initial regional rankings. Baxter, who came in as the No. 21 seed, showed the most improvement by finishing tenth in the 22-man field.
Solid performances were given all around by Purdue's finest, even though many of them will not be advancing to nationals. Stovall placed 17th in the 110 hurdles with a mark of 14.33; Krissy Liphardt finished 14th in the 100 hurdles, clocking in at 1:00.86; Tiffany Britten landed in the 17th spot after recording a distance of 14.52 (47-7 3/4) in the shot put.
After one day of competition and through five events, the Purdue men stand tall in third place with 18 points. Auburn leads the field with 28 points and the Buckeyes are close behind in second with 23 points. Big Ten champion Michigan sits atop the women's team standings with 23 points; the Boilermaker women are in 14th with 5.5 points.
Saturday's event schedule starts at 12 p.m. with the women's hammer and men's javelin competitions. Courtney Magnuson will represent the Old Gold and Black in the hammer, while fifth-seeded Brian Smith goes for the gold in the javelin. Running events kick off at 6 p.m. with the women's 4x100 meter relay.
Complete results of the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships can be accessed at www.deltatiming.com. Purdue sports information will again provide a complete recap late Saturday at www.purduesports.com.