April 24, 2004
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Dedrick Tillerson won two races, leading a dominating afternoon for the Boilermakers at the Big Ten Preview Invitational. Tillerson won the 200-meter dash in 21.71 seconds and the 400 dash in 48.33; also winning Saturday for the Boilermakers were Ina Jackson in the 400, Kern Woods (long jump) and Derek Watkins (high jump).
In addition to winning the 400 with a personal-record time of 56.53, Jackson also finished second in the long jump with a leap of 18 feet, 11 1/4 inches and anchored the winning 4x100 meter relay team, which finished in 3:48.15.
It was an all-around solid day for Purdue in the jumps, as Woods and Watkins also succeeded in their respective events. Woods won convincingly in the long jump, reaching a distance of 23- 1/2, while Watkins tied with four other athletes at a top height of 6-6 3/4 (2.00 meters). Because Watkins had the fewest misses, he won on the tiebreaker.
Runner-up honors for Purdue at the Big Ten Preview went to Lindsey Blaine in the javelin (151-3), T'Nita Waters (12.15) and Maurice Johnson (11.18) in the 100, Gina Harvey (24.72 - personal record) in the 200 and Kelly Van Abeele (2:15.09) and Jon Hoggatt (1:55.82) in the 800.
In addition to competing at home, Purdue also had its student-athletes showing their skills at the prestigious Penn and Drake Realys. At the Philadelphia meet, Scott Hecht recorded a personal best in the hammer throw, launching an effort of 206-2 (62.84) that gave him fourth-place in the talent-heavy field. Teammate Keith McBride finished four spots behind in eighth at 197-8 (60.24) and John Paul Smolenski's effort of 201-1 (61.29) landed him in seventh.
At the Drake Relays, Purdue had Mike Ciccarelli and David Rae in the 3,000-meter steeplechase; Ciccarelli placed sixth with a time of 9:11.09 and Rae captured 11th in 9:21.46.
Purdue's next competition is the long-awaited annual dual meet with the archrival Indiana Hoosiers. The scored meet, which counts twice in the Titan Series (one for the men's team, one for the women's team), begins at 10:30 a.m. in Bloomington, Ind.