March 8, 2008
SOUTH BEND, Ind. & AMES, Iowa - The Purdue track and field teams gave their final efforts for the NCAA Indoor Championship qualifiers on Saturday. The Boilermakers runners and jumpers headed north to the Notre Dame Alex Wilson Invitational, while the throwers went west to the Iowa State Last Chance Qualifier.
The Boilermaker throwers were stellar at the Iowa State Last Chance Qualifier, winning the women's weight throw, placing second in the men's shot put and taking third in the women's shot put. Senior Astin Steward nearly matched her top mark of the season with a weight throw of 20.75 meters (68-01.00), while sophomore teammate Stacey Wannemacher followed her in seventh with a toss of 17.17 meters (56-04.00). Wannemacher returned in the women's shot put to break her own school record and place third with a throw of 15.81 meters (51-10.50). On the men's side, junior Ben Harpenau fell just shy of his season best in the weight throw, finishing fourth with a mark of 19.11 meters (62-08.50). Senior Tyler Miller took home second in the shot put, matching his season-best throw of 18.12 meters (59-05.50).
All the Boilermaker competitors at Notre Dame gave good efforts, but were unable to improve any of their season-bests. Senior Leah Kincaid and sophomore Eric Sparks both were solid on Friday as Kincaid placed second in the women's long jump with a mark of 5.89 meters (19-04.00), while Sparks won the men's pole vault with a height of 5.05 meters (16-06.75). Kincaid returned Saturday to take third in the 60-meter hurdles, posting a time of 8.37 in the prelims, and 8.34 in the finals.
Junior Mallory Peck and sophomore Brianna Neumann finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the women's pole vault with matching heights of 3.84 meters (12-07.50), and sophomore teammate Ashlee Lengacher was 15th in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:11.72.
Senior Jh'Rome Tuggle finished third in the men's 200-meter dash, crossing the line in 21.58, and classmate Brian Kaluf matched his performance in the 60-meter hurdles with a finals time of 8.00. Junior Nolan Petties rounded out the Boilermakers' day with a fifth-place showing in the triple jump with a leap of 15.02 (49-03.50).
Official entries for the NCAA Indoor Championships are scheduled to be announced Monday.