April 9, 2004
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - Facing some of the best talent in the country, four of Purdue's female throwers finished among the top eight during the first day of competition at Tennessee's Sea Ray Relays.
Veterans Courtney Magnuson and Tiffany Britten finished second and seventh in the hammer throw, rookie Lindsay Blaine captured third in the javelin and freshman Astin Steward took eighth in the discus.
A week removed from fouling out in the Texas Relay hammer throw, Magnuson finished as the runner-up with her top launch of 181 feet, 1 inch (55.19 meters). Her effort was a season best by over 18 feet and qualified her for a spot at the NCAA Mideast Regional meet, which takes place the last weekend of May at Louisiana State. Magnuson is the eighth female Boilermaker to hit a regional qualifying standard, joining throwing cohorts Britten, Steward and Blaine.
Britten, a regional qualifier in the shot put, did not hit a qualifying mark in the hammer Thursday morning, but did produce a career best mark of 160-5. The Indianapolis native's previous best was 157-4, which she recorded at home last season against Indiana.
Blaine qualified for regionals in the javelin last weekend at Texas with her career best launch of 162-0. Thursday, the freshman was slightly down, recording a top throw of 150-9, but still managed to pick up a bronze-medal showing. Also down a bit from last weekend was Steward, who produced a top throw of 154-11 in the discus; Steward's top mark this season is 155-8.
In the men's hammer throw, All-Americans Keith McBride and Scott Hecht once again posted regional marks, but finished sixth and ninth in the 11-man field, which also included conference foe Dan Taylor of Ohio State. McBride finished with a top throw of 211-0 (64.32) and Hecht topped out at 203-5 (62.01).
From the track, two-time All-America Kenneth Baxter finished seventh in the 100-meter dash, crossing the tape with a season-best mark of 10.63 seconds. Baxter's last competition was at the NCAA Indoor Championships, where he placed second in the 200-meter dash.
Purdue athletes will wrap competition Saturday at the Sea Rays, and will open competition at the Miami Invitational in Oxford, Ohio. The Boilermaker men and women will be two of 18 teams competing in the scored meet, which begins at 8 a.m.
The Boilermakers will be engaged in six events Saturday at the Sea Rays, including the shot put, high jump, long jump and 200-meter dash.
Live results of the Sea Ray Relays can be accessed off the front page of Tennessee's athletics web site, utsports.com.