Feb. 20, 2004
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - Boilermaker newcomer John Lampert recorded a personal best in the long jump, reaching a distance of 22-feet, 5-inches (6.83 meters) Friday night at the Hoosier Hills Invitational. Lampert recorded the team's lone win at the non-scoring meet, which is Purdue's final event before the conference championships.
The men's track and field team, currently ranked 13th in the nation by Trackwire, ventures to the University of Michigan for the Big Ten Indoor Championships next Saturday. The meet runs from Feb. 28 to 29.
Purdue gave its top performers: Kenneth Baxter, Scott Hecht, Keith McBride and Nedzad Mulabegovic, the weekend off from competition so they could continue training for the conference meet.
Stepping into their spotlight were promising newcomers, such as Tyler Miller and Maurice Johnson, as well as veterans Kern Woods, Dedrick Tillerson and Matt Simmons.
Miller thrived in the shot put, finishing third with a lifetime best launch of 54-4 1/2 (16.57). Johnson placed fifth in the finals of the 60-meter dash, tying his personal record of 6.97 seconds.
Woods and Simmons reached the finals of the 60-meter hurdles. Woods nipped his teammate for third-place honors, winning by .03 seconds, 8.27 to 8.30.
Dedrick Tillerson was a busy man on the track competing in three events: the 200, 400 and 60 hurdles. Tillerson placed fourth in both the 200 and 400, and recorded a season best in the 400 of 49.73. His time in the 200 was clocked at 22.65, and his 10th-place hurdle time was marked at 8.50.
Saturday morning, the women's team will play host to the Boilermaker Invitational at Lambert Fieldhouse, starting at 10 a.m. The non-scoring meet features the entire Purdue roster, the IPFW Mastodons, and several unattached competitors, all preparing for their respective conference meets.
The women's Big Ten Indoor Championships are taking place Feb. 28 to 29 at the University of Iowa.