May 13, 2007
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Purdue University men's track and field team earned 92.5 points to finish fifth at the 2007 Big Ten Championships, hosted by Penn State University over the weekend, while the Boilermaker women amassed 58 points to take home seventh.
The men's team score is a 47.5-point increase from last year's championships as they climbed five spots in the conference standings. The women topped their total as well, improving by nearly five points, but dropped one spot on the conference list. Also with the men's team victory over archrival Indiana University, which finished eighth with 56 points, the Boilermakers secured the coveted Crimson and Gold Cup for the 2006-07 athletic season.
The Boilers collected four gold medals on the weekend, the most won by the team since the 2003 Big Ten Championships. Senior Lindsey Blaine, juniors Sheena James and Astin Steward and freshman Jon Pullum accounted for the first-place showings on the weekend.
Steward captured the Boilers' final gold medal of the weekend in the women's discus, shattering the Purdue record with a throw of 53.90 meters (176-10). Freshman Stacey Wannemacher scored in her second event of the championships as well, marking 43.26 meters (141-11) to grab eighth.
Senior Rickey Pinkney and juniors Keith Hopkins and Brian Kaluf placed second, third and eighth in men's 110-meter high hurdles with respective times of 13.78, 13.89 and 14.41. Pinkney also picked up a fifth-place showing in the 100-meter dash with a time of 10.67, while Kaluf earned eighth in the 400-meter hurdles.
Junior Jh'Rome Tuggle placed in both the 200- and 400-meter dashes, taking home the silver in the 200 with a time of 21.10, and earning fifth in the 400 with a time of 46.62. Fellow junior Tyler Miller grabbed a trio of team points as he earned sixth-place finish in the men's shot put with a throw of 17.13 meter (56-02.50).
Senior captain John Porter was the runner-up in the men's pole vault, tying for the top clearance, but losing the ensuing jump-off for the gold. His top height was a season-best 5.15 meters (16-10.75), while sophomore teammate Eric Sparks finished fifth, matching his season-best height of 5.05 meters (16-06.75).
Senior Brian Williams headlined a pair of placers in the men's javelin, marking a career-best 64.41 meters (211-04) to finish third overall and notch the third-longest throw in school history. Freshman Steve Carlson tallied one more team points with a throw of 59.74 meters (196-00), good for eighth place.
Sophomore Nolan Petties and junior Rayland Currie earned sixth and eighth, respectively, in the men's triple jump to tack on three more team points towards the end of the day. Petties marked 15.33 meters (50-03.50), while Currie leapt 14.91 meters (48-11.00).
Junior Leah Kincaid added her third NCAA Mideast Regional qualifying mark of the season, leaping 12.35 meters (40-06.25) to place eighth in the women's triple jump. Also picking up an eighth-place finish for the Purdue women was senior Corrie Whisner, who earned a team point with a time of 4:22.35 in the 1,500-meter run.
The Boilermakers continue their season in two weeks, May 25-26, at the NCAA Mideast Regionals, hosted by the University of Missouri. The Old Gold and Black have qualified in a school-record 34 events and hope to send several of those athletes to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, to be held in Sacramento, Ca. June 6-9.