May 14, 2006
EAST LANSING, Mich. - Purdue's women's track and field team finished sixth at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships, a one-place improvement over last year; however, the men's team could not duplicate 2005's success and dropped to tenth.
The women finished with 53.33 points and the men totaled 45. The Wisconsin Badgers won the men's team title with 161.50 points, while the Minnesota Golden Gophers claimed the women's crown with 152.50 points.
Sophomore Leah Kincaid had the best all-around day, scoring in three individual events. Kincaid placed eighth in the triple jump (11.99 meters; 39 feet-4 inches), fourth in the 100-meter hurdles with a personal best of 13.83 seconds, and was eighth in the 400-meter hurdles at 1:04.71.
In addition to Kincaid, the women's squad received fourth-place points from Brooke Woodruff, who recorded a personal best and varsity record of 2:06.69 in the 800-meter run. The Boilermakers also scored in both relays, taking seventh in the 4x100-meter relay (46.85) and sixth in the 4x400-meter relay (3:45.66).
Woodruff's new school record eclipsed Christine McGee's previous standard of 2:07.36, which was set on May 21, 1989. Saturday, David Rae broke the school's old 3,000-meter steeplechase mark, which was previously held by Robin Liddell (8:46.50) since 1977. Rae completed the course in 8:45.69.
Seven individuals and the 4x400-meter relay scored for the Purdue's men's team Sunday, led by Keith Hopkins' bronze-medal finish in the 110-meter hurdles. Hopkins posted an NCAA regional qualifying time of 14.11 seconds and Brian Kaluf came in seventh at 14.57.
With Hopkins and Kaluf providing depth in the hurdles, Big Ten Indoor hurdle champion Rickey Pinkney was moved to the 100-meter dash, where he came through with a fifth-place mark of 10.64. The Boilermakers also scored in the 200, with Jh'Rome Tuggle finishing seventh with a time of 21.59.
In the field, John Porter and Ben Pax placed fourth (5.05; 16-6-.75) and fifth (4.95; 16-2.75) in the pole vault and Jim Schwingendorf took sixth in the javelin with a throw of 57.55 meters (188-10).