May 28, 2005
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Boilermakers added three more athletes to their NCAA travel roster through Saturday's competitions at the Mideast Regional Championships, including the javelin tandem of Kara Patterson and Lindsey Blaine.
Patterson, a freshman from Vancouver, Wash., became Purdue's second regional champion (Hence Williams, pole vault) after posting a winning launch of 51.92 meters (170 feet - 4 inches); Blaine qualified for her second straight trip to nationals with a fourth-place toss of 48.49 (159-01).
"Any win is a good win, but I'm more thankful that both Linz and I finished in the top five ... it's all about the team," said Patterson, who also was this year's Big Ten and Penn Relays javelin champion.
Patterson entered this weekend's meet ranked second in the region behind Louisiana Tech's Brenda Grace-Hunt, but the Lady Techster could only manage a third-place toss of 48.78 (160-00).
Late in the competition, Blaine was on the outside looking in after Ashley Kaufman (Akron) and Rachel Walker (Louisiana-Monroe) both threw over the 46-meter mark. But the Boilermaker stepped up on her fifth attempt to clinch a spot at nationals.
As Blaine reached the end of the runway, she stopped her motion to ask for a reset, an act to which she's not usually accustomed. However, the move paid off as she recorded her best throw of the afternoon.
"I've never reset before, but I was feeling a bit nervous," said Blaine. "I knew that I had been bumped down on the list, but convinced myself to just erase my mind and throw."
Also making it back to nationals for a second-straight year is hammer thrower J.P. Smolenski, sneaking in with a fifth-place effort of 64.55 (211-09). Smolenski came in ranked No. 1 in the region but was outdistanced by a group of southern throwers led by Tennessee senior Garland Porter, who recorded the top launch of 66.05 (216-08).
Some Boilermakers were left to be chosen from the NCAA's at-large pool, including Rickey Pinkney, who placed sixth in the finals of the 110-meter hurdles at 14.22, and Kenneth Baxter, who took seventh in both the 100 (10.49) and 200-meter dashes. Baxter recorded a personal best of 20.65 in the timed finals of the 200.
Leah Kincaid placed eighth in the long jump with a top distance of 6.01 meters (19-8.75), which gave Purdue an extra point in the team standings. Even though the redshirt freshman didn't advance to nationals, head coach Jack Warner was still proud of her efforts.
"Reaching the regional finals in any event is never an easy task, she beat a lot of good jumpers to get where she was," said Warner. "I think she has that competitive fire burning inside her, and she'll only get better in the years to come."
Kincaid's performance was even more impressive, considering she entered this weekend's meet ranked 25th in the region. A native of Springfield, Ill., Kincaid beat such notables as Mississippi's Marquita Aldridge and Louisiana Tech's Bejide Williams, both of who came into this meet with a top jump of 6.18 meters.
As a team, the women's squad tied for 12th with Kent State with 21 points, while the men's crew tied for 14th with Illinois with 15 points. The Boilermaker women also placed 12th a year ago with 16 points.
The NCAA Championships, hosted by Sacramento State, begin June 8th and run through June 11th. At-large candidates Pinkney, Baxter and Kincaid should know whether or not they've made the meet early next week.