May 27, 2005
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - It took four years, three coaches and two schools, but high jumper Derek Watkins finally advanced to his first NCAA Championship.
"It's just a unbelievable feeling, I'm so ecstatic," said Watkins, who transfered to Purdue from Boise State after his freshman year. "I really have to thank coach (Jack) Warner for getting me to nationals. He's helped me so much mentally and athletically, it's like being coached by a friend."
Since Watkins cleared heights of 2.06 and 2.11 meters on his first attempts, he entered the third round (2.16) holding the tiebreaker, but sitting in eighth place.
However, if he couldn't clear the bar at 2.16, he would need some help.
After Watkins failed on his third attempt, Fred Rule of Southern Illinois also missed, moving Watkins to seventh, and then Kentucky's Mike Mason also fouled, pushing Watkins to sixth.
With three competitors left, Watkins needed another foul-out to guarantee him a spot at nationals. But Brent Boettcher of Wisconsin and eventual regional champion Steve Wolf of Central Michigan both cleared, leaving Watkins' hopes of advancing on the shoulders of Arkansas' Greg Martin.
If Martin cleared, Watkins would have been left waiting for an at-large spot. But if the Razorback missed, Watkins had a ticket to Sacramento waiting for him at the airport.
Martin entered regionals with a season-best of 2.15 meters, but couldn't get that extra centimeter, giving Watkins reason to celebrate.
"It was really nerve racking towards the end," said Watkins. "I was crossing my fingers during the last guy's jump, which isn't nice, but sometimes you have to be selfish."
For Warner the key to success wasn't Martin's miss, but rather Watkins' clean first attempts.
"That's how you make it to nationals, you need to stay clean and not collect too many misses," said Warner. "He was definitely one of the better jumpers out there, but I think he got too excited at 2.16 (7-1). I'm happy for him, he's worked real hard this year, and I think he should be an All-American. This meet should serve as a great confidence builder."
"Every big meet comes down to misses," said Watkins. "This year, misses have cost me second place at Big Ten indoors and placed me fifth at outdoors. It's so important to stay clean."
Another senior advancing to nationals is hammer thrower Courtney Magnuson, who placed fourth with a distance of 58.23 (191-00). Magnuson's efforts provided a degree of closure to her troubling performance at the Big Ten Championships, where she fouled out.
"I'm so happy to be going back, but I'm even more proud of the fact that I earned my spot," said Magnuson, who received an at-large spot for the 2004 national championships despite fouling out at regionals. "I had a pretty good mark on my first throw (56.21), which took off all the pressure, but I'm still kind of upset that I didn't throw over 60 meters or record a new personal record."
Junior Beth Mallory of Alabama won the hammer title with a launch of 62.05 (203-7). Ohio State's Shelaine Larson was the runner-up at 61.02 (200-02) and Arkansas' Brandy Blackwood was third at 58.75 (192-09).
From the track, Rickey Pinkney and Kenneth Baxter both advanced to the finals of their respective races.
Pinkney placed seventh in the 110-meter hurdles with a mark of 14.12 seconds, his second fastest time of the season. Aries Merritt of Tennessee posted the fastest time of the afternoon at 13.75, while Antown Hicks from Mississippi recorded a close runner-up time of 13.76.
Pinkney entered the meet ranked 23rd in the region but was able to beat several notables including Big Ten champion Paul Check of Wisconsin (14.29).
In the 100-meter dash Baxter, a three-time All-American, posted the sixth fastest time of the afternoon with a mark of 10.50 seconds. Tyson Gay from Arkansas recorded the fastest time at 10.34, while Chris Johnson (Arkansas-Little Rock) and Demi Omole (Wisconsin) tied for second at 10.39.
Baxter was getting ready to run the 200-meter dash, but severe weather in the area pushed that contest to Saturday, as well as the 5,000-meter run, which features senior Kyle Orender. The women's long jump, which was just heading to finals, also was halted. Redshirt freshman Leah Kincaid had the seventh best jump in prelims of 6.01 meters.
An update on the rescheduled events will be posted later tonight. Complete results of today's events can be found at iuhoosiers.com.