Feb. 26, 2006
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IOWA CITY, Iowa - For the second time in his career, Rickey Pinkey is a Big Ten Champion.
Pinkney won a second consecutive 60-meter hurdle title Sunday at the Big Ten Championships, beating Michigan's Jeff Porter to the finish line, 7.83 to 7.86 seconds. The junior's mark was just short of tying his varsity record of 7.82 seconds, which was set last year.
"I told Rickey that if he gets out quick then he'll (Porter) start pressing," said head coach Jack Warner. "Rickey, however, kept his composure and finished strong."
In winning the gold medal, Pinkney became the first Boilermaker to win back-to-back Big Ten indoor hurdle titles since Purdue Hall of Famer Rod Woodson won four straight from 1984 to 1987. Pinkney also is the first Boilermaker to successfully defend his conference indoor crown since Chris Brown won three-straight weight throw titles from 1999 to 2001.
Pinkney wasn't the only Boilermaker to score in the 60-meter hurdles. Teammate Keith Hopkins matched his prelim time from Saturday of 7.96 seconds to place fourth.
Jh'Rome Tuggle scored for Purdue in both the 200 and 400-meter runs. Tuggle was fifth in the 400 with a personal record of 48.67 and came in seventh in the 200 with another career best of 21.77.
"I'm very pleased with Jh'Rome's running this weekend. His efforts were huge for us," said Warner.
Purdue finished the two-day meet in 10th place with 40 points - a total that would have earned them seventh place at the 2005 championships. Wisconsin won the team title with 108.5 points.
"I can't remember when 40 points was the last place total at indoors," said Warner. "I knew we were on shaky ground coming in, but if you told me we would score 40 points - I'd thought that would be good for seventh place. I'm sad to finish last, but we're loaded with young talent that will help this team in the future."