April 3, 2004
COLUMBUS, Ohio - Kim Jordan, Carrie Long and Derek Watkins scored wins for the Boilermakers Saturday at the Ohio State Relays, but only Astin Steward came away with a NCAA regional qualifying mark, hitting a distance of 155 feet, 4 inches (47.35 meters) in the discus.
The one day, non-scoring meet held at the Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium featured athletes from several regional schools and club teams, including Eastern Michigan, West Virginia and Dayton.
Despite attaining the Mideast Regional qualifying mark in the discus, Steward could finish no higher than fourth, placing behind Ashland Elite's Roberta Collins (174-5) and the Buckeye tandem of Amarachi Ukabam (166-9) and Keturah Lofton (158-3).
Steward's classmate, freshman Lindsay Polhemus, also finished among the top eight with her sixth-place toss of 150-7 (45.89). Both Boilermakers improved by over fifteen feet on their discus throws from last weekend's Purdue Invitational.
Steward is the seventh female Boilermaker to qualify for regionals, joining Kara Lahey, Amber Ferner, Tiffany Colvin, Jocelyn Lindsay, Lindsay Blaine and Tiffany Britten.
Victories for the women's team were posted by Jordan in the 800-meter dash and Long in the high jump. Jordan led a Boilermaker sweep of the top three-places in the 800, as Corrie Whisner and Kelly Van Abeele finished close behind.
Jordan crossed first in 2:16.39, Whisner second in 2:17.22 and Van Abeele third in 2:18.02.
Long's winning leap in the high jump of 5-6 (1.68) was almost four feet better than the top effort achieved by runner-up Ruth Campbell of Indianapolis. Long's teammate, Laura Stier, placed third at 5-2 1/4.
Watkins and Brian Hoying provided the top highlight for the men's team as the duo captured the top two spots in their high jump. Watkins won with a top height of 6-8 3/4, while Hoying achieved a max leap of 6-6 3/4.
Dedrick Tillerson had the best day on the track for the Purdue men, finishing as the runner-up in the 400-meter hurdles (54.76) and third in the 200 (22.11).
Purdue's track and field squad will split again next weekend, as one half of the team heads to Oxford, Ohio for the Miami Team Invitational, while the other ventures to Knoxville, Tenn., for the talent-laden Sea Ray Relays.