Feb. 23, 2008
Locked and Loaded
The Purdue track and field teams hosted the Boilermaker Invitational on Saturday.
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue men's and women's track and field teams made their final preparations for next weekend's Big Ten Indoor Championships, hosting the Boilermaker Invitational on Saturday. The Old Gold and Black added a pair of NCAA provisional qualifiers on the afternoon and climbed the conference standings in several events.
Senior Tyler Miller added the men's fifth national provisional mark, hurling the shot put 17.87 meters (58-07.50) to win the event. The throw is an indoor career-best and is the third farthest in the conference this season. Sophomore Brianna Neumann became the Boilermakers' sixth women's NCAA provisional qualifier, clearing 3.97 meters (13-00.25) to move into a tie for fifth place in the Big Ten standings. Her mark is also tied for the third-highest indoor performance in Purdue history, matching Amy Spellmeyer's height from 2000.
Junior Nolan Petties nearly hit the NCAA provisional qualifier in the men's long jump, marking 7.46 meters (24-05.75), which leaves him just a centimeter off the conference lead in the event. He also jumped into fifth in the Big Ten in the men's triple jump, leaping 15.29 meters (50-02.00). Sophomore Eric Sparks cleared a career-high 5.10 meters (16-08.75) in the men's pole vault, jumping into a tie for fourth place in the Big Ten standings. Fellow sophomore Adetayo Adesanya fell just shy of his career-best in the men's high jump, taking first place with a height of 2.09 meters (6-10.25). Junior Stephen Bach nearly cracked the all-time top-five at Purdue in the men's 600-meter dash, clocking a time of 1:19.33, and sophomore Reese Byerrum posted a career-best time of 1:53.49 to win the men's 800-meter run. Junior Kory Sheets grabbed the men's 200-meter dash, posting a time of 22.80.
Sophomore Ashlee Lengacher clocked the third-fastest women's 600-meter dash time in school history, crossing the line in 1:32.26. Fellow sophomore Stacey Wannemacher won the women's shot put and weight throw, marking 15.41 meters (50-06.75) in the shot put and nearly matching her season-best toss of 17.52 meters (57-05.75) in the weight throw. Senior Leah Kincaid topped the women's 60-meter hurdles, breaking the tape in 8.36. Junior Ranay Harvey followed closely, eclipsing her personal record for the fourth time this year with a time of 8.59. Harvey also clipped her career-best in the women's 200-meter dash, crossing the line in second at 25.93. Rookie Kristina Krasich won the women's 800-meter run, posting a personal-best time of 2:14.29, while junior Lauren Scott paced the women's 400-meter dash with a time of 58.05.
The Boilermaker men head to the University of Wisconsin next weekend for the Big Ten Indoor Men's Championships, while the women travel to the University of Minnesota for the women's conference meet.