Feb. 7, 2004
LINCOLN, Neb. - All-Americans Kenneth Baxter and Keith McBride pushed the Purdue track and field team further into the national spotlight Saturday with their solid performances at the star-studded Husker Invitational. The meet featured 13 national champions and schools representing all the major athletic conferences.
Baxter, a two-time All-American in the 200-meter dash, clocked season best times in the 60 and 200, but finished as a runner-up in each event.
After enduring the prelim and semifinal rounds of the 60, Baxter removed himself from the finals in order to concentrate on the 200. The senior recorded exceptional marks of 6.78 and 6.73, but could not outrun Auburn's Mark Burns.
In the 200, Baxter finished .19 seconds behind Kansas' Leo Bookman, who is regarded as the nation's top 200-meter sprinter. Baxter's time of 21.16 gave him an NCAA provisional mark, while Bookman's 20.97 gave the Jayhawk the meet record. The previous record was set in 1991 by BYU's Frank Fredericks.
In a battle of the nation's second and third-ranked weight throwers, McBride held off Georgia's Lucais MacKay, 70 feet- 4 1/2 inches (21.45) to 69-4. (21.13). McBride's effort was his second NCAA automatic qualifying mark of the season. No. 7 Scott Hecht placed fourth with a season best launch of 69-2 (21.08).
Hecht later placed among the top ten in the shot put competition, recording a push of 57- 3/4 (17.39).
On the women's end, Tiffany Britten was Purdue's top finisher in the shot put with a mark of 47-9 (14.55), while Courtney Magnuson led the Boilermakers in the weight throw with a launch of 57-1 (17.40).
Three of Purdue's distance runners posted season bests in their respective events. Amber Ferner clocked a fourth-place time of 17:23.73 in the 5,000-meter run, Kara Lahey placed eighth in the 3,000-meter run with a 9:53.52, as did Kyle Orender, who came across in 8:17.90. Orender's and Ferner's times also doubled as the teams' fastest of the season.
Purdue's top student-athletes will compete again next weekend at the prestigious New York Armory Invitational, where they will face more nationally ranked competitors. The meet runs from Feb. 13 to 14, and will pit the Boilermakers against a number of respected programs, including Georgia, LSU, Tennessee and Texas.
More information regarding the meet can be accessed through the Armory's web site at www.armorytrack.com.