Feb. 25, 2006
IOWA CITY, IOWA - Sophomore Jh'Rome Tuggle qualified for the finals of the 200 and 400-meter runs Saturday during the first day of competition at the Big Ten Indoor Championships.
In both races, Tuggle went toe-to-toe against former conference champion David Neville of Indiana, which gave him a significant advantage against the remainder of the field.
Tuggle posted a personal record of 48.68 in the 400 to Neville's 47.75, and later recorded a lifetime best of 21.84 in the 200, while his in-state rival registered a 21.64.
"Jh'Rome's performances were simply tremendous," said head coach Jack Warner. "I'm very impressed and encouraged by what he's accomplished as a sophomore."
Also reaching Sunday's finals were freshman Steven Bach in the 800-meter run (1:54.48) and Rickey Pinkney and Keith Hopkins in the 60-meter hurdles. Pinkney qualified second with a mark of 7.95 seconds; Hopkins was right behind his teammate at 7.96. Jeff Porter of Michigan recorded the fastest prelim time of 7.87.
Purdue finished Saturday in ninth place with 15 points, just one point behind Ohio State and Michigan. Defending champion Wisconsin leads the 10-team field with 29 points.
A bulk of the Boilermaker points were scored in the field. John Porter and Andrew Rademacher were third and sixth in the pole vault, reaching heights of 5.05 and 4.90 meters. Tyler Miller improved on his seeding to finish seventh in the shot put with a throw of 16.95 meters.
The distance medley relay collected the team's final points of the afternoon with its seventh-place time of 10:06.61.
To access complete results and full standings visit bigten.org.