May 15, 2004
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Sophomore Amber Ferner, a local product from West Lafayette High School, was the big winner for Purdue Saturday, capturing the 3,000-meter steeplechase title with a varsity, Rankin track and conference championship-record breaking mark of 10:12.27.
After Saturday's run, Ferner jumped up several places to claim the sixth fastest collegiate time in the nation. The current fastest time of 9:48.74 in the nation belongs to BYU's Kassi Anderson.
Ferner held the previous school record of 10:16.34, which she recorded earlier this season at the Mt. SAC Relays.
Purdue also had success in the men's steeplechase, with David Rae placing third with a time of 8:44.44 and Mike Ciccarelli following close behind in fifth at 8:58.93. Both times were career bests for the Boilermaker duo.
Ohio State's Aaron Fisher won the steeplechase title with a track record time of 8:44.59. He beat the previous mark of 8:44.60, which was recorded during the 1983 Big Ten Championships by Illinois' Tom Stevens.
Although Purdue's athletes wrapped up the day successfully on the track, it was the work of their field athletes, which helped collect the points.
Rookie Lindsay Blaine made a statement in her outdoor championships debut, recording a third-place javelin launch of 152-8 (46.54). Her attempt was just two meters short of second-place, which was attained by Penn State's Ashley Colley (158-4; 48.26). Michigan's Lindsay Stephenson claimed the javelin gold, with her effort of 165-9 (50.52).
Sophomore Megan Darraugh tied for second in the pole vault with Minnesota's Monica Stearns, as both reached a height of 12-9 1/2 (3.90m). That mark was a career best for the second-year Boilermaker.
Michigan's Elizabeth Boyle won the title with her track record leap of 13-1 3/4 (4.01m). The old record of 4.00 meters was set by Purdue's Ebbie Metzinger in 2001.
Darraugh has scored at the last two outdoor championships, in as many chances. Last season in Minneapolis, Darraugh placed fifth with a top height of 12-0.
Nedazd Mulabegovic earned fourth place in the discus, reaching a top flight of 178-9 (54.48). His mark was a personal best, beating his old record of 176-4, which was recorded last season against the Indiana Hoosiers.
Minnesota's Karl Erickson won the discus with his launch of 187-0 (56.99), and followed onto the award stand by Ohio State's Dan Taylor (186-8; 56.90) and Iowa's Eric Rothwell (179-7; 54.73).
Fourth-place points were also earned by Purdue senior Tiffany Britten in the shot put. Britten rewrote her own varsity record, with her push of 51-6 1/2 (15.71). Britten's old record of 50-4 (15.34) was posted at last year's outdoor conference championships in Minneapolis.
Shaun Guice, returning champion in the high jump, just missed repeating as victor, after placing third with a top leap of 7- 1/2 (2.15). The winner and runner-up, Minnesota's Kevin Netzer and Bryant Howe, each reached a best height of 7-1 3/4 (2.18). Netzer was awarded the top spot for missing fewer attempts.
Junior Angela Anoliefoh had a nice fourth-place showing in the heptathlon, finishing with 4,894 points. Anoliefoh placed ninth in the 100 hurdles (15.33) during Friday's events, but came back strong Saturday with a win in the javelin (139-11; 42.64m) and a fourth-place showing in the 800 meters (2:28.68). Also on Friday, Anoliefoh garnered a second-place finish in the shot put (38-1 1/2; 11.62) At last year's championships, Anoliefoh was forced to withdraw from the competition after four events due to injury.
Based on Purdue's success on the field, the men find themselves in thrid place with 41 points and the women go into tomorrow's finals in second place at 47 points. The Michigan women and Minnesota men are a day away from repeating as champions. The Wolverines have 58.5 points and the Golden Gophers have collected 74 through two days of competition. Wisconsin is second on the men's side with 58 points.
On the track, Purdue's women's 4x100-meter relay team qualified fourth for Sunday's finals. The quartet of LaShauna Harris, Shanna Carter, Gina Harvey and T'Nita Water finished in 46.29, which was over a second behind prelim winner Penn State (45.01).
Harvey also qualified for the finals of the 400, crossing the finish line in 56.47, as did sophomore Dedrick Tillerson who finished his 400 course in 47.68.
Sunday's finals begin at 11:40 a.m. with the women's triple jump. The first race will be the women's 4x100-meter relay championship, which takes place at 12:45 p.m.
Saturday's Notes Five decathletes broke the Rankin Track and Field record in the decathlon, as all scored over the previous best of 6,795 set at the 1999 championships by Penn State's Dave Romilly. Winner Travis Brandstetter of Minnesota (7,724) and runner-up Ashraf Fadel of Wisconin (7,515) both automatically qualified for NCAA Championships with their point totals. Indiana's Jake Wiseman and Wisconsin duo Joe Demter and Ryan Tremelling all attained NCAA provisional totals.
Melissa Talbot of Wisconsin won the heptathlon title with an NCAA provisional score of 5,057 points, thanks to wins in the 200 and 100 hurdles; this is the sophomore's second conference title. She also won the indoor pentathlon this season with a score of 3,751 points. At last year's outdoor meet, Talbot placed third in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 59.31. Runner-up Jacenta Spandel of Minnesota also hit the NCAA provisional standard with her score of 5,000 points.
Ohio State's Joel Brown set a new Rankin track and field record of 13.88 in the 110-meter hurdles. He surpassed the old record of 14.04 seconds, posted by Indiana State's Aubrey Herring in March of 1998.
The Illinois' tandem of Adiran Walker and Abe Jones both broke the old Rankin Track and Field record of 50.87, which was registered by Iowa's Pat McGhee in May of 1986. Walker finished the prelim race first in 50.62 and Jones followed in 50.74.
Amber Ferner's win in the women's 3,000-meter steeplechase broke four records Saturday: personal, varsity, track and Big Ten. Her time of 10:12.26, also the sixth fastest collegiate mark in the nation this season, broke the conference championship mark of 10:14.19 set by Indiana's Audrey Geisler in 2003. It shattered the previous Rankin Track best by almost 26 seconds, belittling Andrea Kremer's previous record of 10:38.22. Ferner's previous varsity record of 10:16.34, was recorded earlier this year at Mt. SAC's.
Ohio State's Aaron Fisher won the steeplechase title with a track record time of 8:44.59. He beat the previous mark of 8:44.60, which was recorded during the 1983 Big Ten Championships by Illinois' Tom Stevens.
Wisconsin freshman Paul Hubbard won his first outdoor conference title, by winning the long jump competition with a leap of 24-5 1/2; he upset defending champion Aarick Wilson of Indiana by exactly one inch.
Minnesota's Kevin Netzer, who finished runner-up to Purdue's Shaun Guice at last season's championships in Minneapolis, returned the favor by beating Guice on Purdue's Rankin Track and Field. Netzer won with a top leap of 7-1 3/4, beating Guice's third-place showing by almost two inches.
For a third-straight season, Minnesota's Karl Erickson claimed the discus title. The three-time All-American finished with a top throw of 187-0 (56.99), topping the rest of the field by almost eight feet.
Penn State senior Ja'Nai O'Connor finally claimed her first Big Ten championship, winning the shot put with a Big Ten Championship record push of 55-4 3/4 (16.88m). The old record of 54-4 1/4 was set by Indiana's Katrin Koch in 1991. O'Connor was also this indoor season's shot put champion, setting a Big Ten meet record and Iowa track record in the process.
Michigan's Lindsay Stephenson won her first Big Ten Championship with a javelin launch of 165-9 (50.52m). Stephenson is enjoying her first and last chance competing at the Big Ten level; she is a transfer from Columbia University, where she graduated from in 2003 with a degree in politcal science. This is her final semester of eligibility.
Michigan's Elizabeth Boyle won the title with her track and Big Ten Championship record leap of 13-1 3/4 (4.01m). The old track record of 4.00 meters was set by Purdue's Ebbie Metzinger in 2001. Metzinger also held the previous confernce championship record of 13-1 1/2, which she registered in 2002. Boyle has come a long way from last year's championships, when she tied for ninth. This outdoor season, Boyle has won two conference Athlete of the Week accolades.
Penn State and Illinois are the top two qualifiers for the women's 4x100-meter final. The Nittany Lions, led by Connie Moore, finished with a top time of 45.01. Illinois' quartet finished in 45.33.
Since only nine men's teams are competing in the 4x100-meter relay, the entire event was pushed to Sunday and will be run just once and will serve as the final.
Winners' Quotes
Women's Heptathlon Champion - Melissa Talbot, Wisconsin
"I was really surprised with my 200 yesterday. That helped out a lot. I had a lot of ups and downs. I didn't long jump as well as I wanted to, but like I said, my 200 was better. With javelin I was just happy to get it to stick into the ground. It was a lot of fun."
Men's High Jump Champion - Kevin Netzer, Minnesota
"It feels good to get it this year. Last year it felt like (Purdue's Shaun) Guice stole it away from me. This year I stole it away from him. I've had to work harder because we've had so many guys jump well on our team."
Men's Long Jump Champion - Paul Hubbard, Wisconsin
"It's special this time compared to indoors because I trailed the entire competition today. The pressure was really on this time. It kind of feels good to be champ, to come through some adversity such as that to come out and be on top. I've worked a lot harder than I have before because I do two sports, football and track, and balancing my time is really hard."
Men's Discus Champion - Karl Erickson, Minnesota
"The competition was really good this year. This is my third year in a row, but it was a lot closer this year. The top three were within four inches."
Men's Decathlon Champion - Travis Brandstatter, Minnesota
"I've been waiting for this for quite a while. I have had big expectations for myself since I was a freshman. Obviously, there was a good field before me, but things are finally starting to click for me. I am in my third year of competition, and things are starting to come together. I am finally able to perform at a consistent level and put up some big scores. We have a new coach this year and have been working a lot less on volume of training. I think that has helped, because it is a lot easier to compete when you are fresh."
Women's Shot Put Champion - Ja'Nai O'Conner, Penn State
"It was great to see everything come together after four years of hard work. It took a lot of patience to get here. My throws have been so inconsistent over the last four years; it was great to have everything come together today. I thought I had won, but I didn't want to win with a low mark. I knew I could do better, so I was just glad to get back up there where I knew I could be with my last throw."
Women's Long Jump Champion - Chi-Chi Aduba, Penn State
"It feels good to win, because I had never won anything outdoors before. To be able to come out here and do that was very exciting. I think I am little bit more rested. I was hurt a little bit in the indoor season, so that was hard. The beginning of the season was a little rough after that, but I guess it all came together at the right time. I knew I had to get it done it on the jump I won on, because I had to go run the 200 and knew it would be ugly after that. I knew I had to do it, so I gave it 100 percent and it worked out."
Men's Steeplechase Champion - Aaron Fisher, Ohio State
"I was lucky enough to win my first championship last year in the 5000 meter. It feels good coming back this year and doing it in the steeplechase, an event that I have trained all year for. It was my second fastest time ever. I went out well and tried to keep it honest for the rest of the race."
Women's Steeplechase Champion - Amber Ferner, Purdue
"I never expected this, because it just came about that I got really good this year. The race went about like I thought it would. I thought it would come down to a three-person race and to who would be the gutsiest and run the fastest last lap. We have been practicing that in our training and it worked out."
Women's Javelin Champion - Lindsay Stephenson, Michigan
"It feels pretty good, because I didn't expect to win. (The winning throw) was a personal record for me. I was dying to get over 50 meters, so it was about time. When you throw far, you don't even feel it. You just let it go and it flies."
Women's Pole Vault Champion - Elizabeth Boyle, Michigan
"It feels great. I am kind of speechless right now. I came into this as the top seed, but I tried not to think about it and tried to see myself in the middle of the pack. I am really excited to be here after coming back from an injury. I redshirted the indoor season after pulling my quad, so I am just really happy to do this. My teammates are doing so well, so I am glad I could do this for the team. It felt good, but I know it could be better."