April 2, 2004
AUSTIN, Texas - Purdue claimed two more qualifiers for NCAA Mideast Regionals during Friday's proceedings at the Texas Relays, as Jocelyn Lindsay and Amber Ferner broke the regional standards of their respective events.
Lindsay began Purdue's afternoon in Austin, achieving a fifth-place height of 12 feet, 3 1/2 inches (3.75m) in the pole vault. Her leap, an outdoor personal best, was the second best height recorded in her section as the top four pole vaulters tied at 12-9 1/2.
Lindsay's previous collegiate best was a height of 12-0 (3.66m), which she recorded several times last outdoor season. Last weekend at the Purdue Invitational, Lindsay led the field with her leap of 11-9 3/4 (3.60).
Ferner registered Purdue's second regional mark of the day, competing in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. She is the sixth female Boilermaker to record a regional mark in only two weeks of outdoor competition this season. Ferner joins Lindsay, Tiffany Colvin, Tiffany Britten, Lindsay Blaine and fellow steeplechaser Kara Lahey in the group that will compete at LSU during the final weekend of May.
Ferner finished as the runner-up, falling behind Arkansas sophomore Maureen Scott in a photo finish. Ferner scored a personal record time of 10:24.06, but Scott inched ahead of her at the finish line and clocked a time of 10:24.00. Ferner's previous record of 10:41.12 earned her seventh place at last season's Big Ten Outdoor Championships.
The next closest competitor was Idaho's Letiwe Marakurwa who came in over seven second behind the leaders at 10:31.34.
Purdue will wrap competition in Texas Saturday, while starting a new one at Ohio State. In action for the Boilermakers in Austin will be Tiffany Britten and Scott Hecht in the shot put, Shaun Guice in the high jump and Lindsay Blaine in the javelin. The remaining members of the men's and women's track and field rosters will be engaged in a one-day meet in Columbus, beginning at 11 a.m.
Live results, plus a schedule of events for both meets can be accessed through both schools' athletics web sites: texassports.com and ohiostatebuckeyes.com.