March 10, 2006
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Junior Rickey Pinkney earned the first All-America title of his career Friday night at the NCAA Indoor Championships, finishing seventh in the 60-meter hurdles.
Pinkney is the first Boilermaker to earn All-America honors in the indoor hurdles since Purdue Hall of Famer Rod Woodson in 1986.
"It's nice to have my name next to a great like Rod Woodson, but I wish to become even greater," said Pinkney, who was seeded 11th entering competition. "I thank God that I made it here, and my coaches for being pacience with me."
Pinkney tied his career best of 7.81 seconds in prelims to advance to the finals, then posted a mark of 7.88. Aries Merritt of Tennesse won the title in 7.51 seconds while Pinkney's conference rival Jeff Porter of Michigan was fourth in 7.77.
"I had some trouble maintaining my composure towards the end of finals," said Pinkney. "I was getting a bit nervous, and I tipped a couple of the hurdles. If I can continue to work on my finishing speed, I have no doubt that I can win another Big Ten and All-America title during the outdoor season."
"He ran well," said head coach Jack Warner. "He got off to a real good start, tripped up on a few hurdles in the middle, but what counts is that he scored and earned All-America recognition. I think this is redemption for being left out of last year's indoor meet."
Flash Results, Inc. NCAA Division I 2006 Indoor Championship Randal Tyson Track Center - Univ. of Arkansas Fayetteville, AR - 3/10/2006 to 3/11/2006
Event 8 Men 60 Meter Hurdles======================================================================= Two heats. Winner plus next 6 fastest advance to Final. American: 7.36 3/6/2004 Greg Foster - Allen Johnson Collegiate: 7.47 2/7/1997 Reggie Torian, Wisconsin NCAA Meet: 7.52 3/5/1999 Terrence Trammell, South Carolina Tyson: 7.42 2/15/2003 Terrence Trammell, USA Name Year School Finals Points=======================================================================Finals 1 Aries Merritt JR Tennessee 7.51 10 2 Jerome Miller SR Baylor 7.66 8 3 Eric Mitchum SR Oregon 7.68 6 4 Jeff Porter JR Michigan 7.77 5 5 Dominic Berger SO Maryland 7.82 4 6 Shawon Harris JR Texas Tech 7.86 3 7 Rickey Pinkney JR Purdue 7.88 2 -- Jason Richardson SO South Carolina DNF