April 12, 2008
ATHENS, Ga. - The Purdue men's and women's track and field added another NCAA Mideast Regional qualifier and increased several of their individual season and personal records on Saturday, at the Spec Towns National Team Invitational, hosted by the University of Georgia. After just a trio of outdoor meets, the Old Gold and Black already have 29 regional qualifying marks.
Sophomore Ashlee Lengacher hit her first career regional qualifying mark, running second in the women's 800-meter run with an outdoor career-best time of 2:09.77. Lengacher's mark is the 12th regional qualifier for the Purdue women this season.
Junior Kara Patterson continued to increase her season-best mark in the women's javelin, eclipsing the United States Olympic Trial "A" standard and guaranteeing herself a trip to Eugene, Ore. this summer. Her throw moved her up a spot in the national standings, where she now ranks third and less than two meters shy of the national lead. Senior Astin Steward bumped up her mark in the women's discus throw as well, taking home first place with a season-best toss of 52.57 meters (172-06). The throw vaulted her from 39th to 13th in the country in the event.
Fellow junior Nolan Petties bounced his way into the national top-20 with his win in the long jump, extending his career- and Big Ten-best mark to 7.59 meters (24-11.00). Senior Tyler Miller extended his season and career best as well, tossing the shot put 17.67 meters (57-11.75) to take home fifth, while rookie teammate Billy Hardcastle matched his career-best at 17.00 meters (55-09.25) to grab sixth.
Senior Jh'Rome Tuggle matched his season-best time in the 200-meter dash, placing fourth overall and third among the college competitors. Sophomore Lance Moe matched his career-best for the second straight week in the men's high jump, clearing 2.10 meters (6-10.75) to top the field, and classmate Eric Sparks won the men's pole vault, sailing over 5.05 meter s (16-06.75). Fellow sophomore Jonathan Pullum fell just shy of his career best in the discus, taking second place with a throw of 54.10 meters (177-06).
Rookie Matt De Silva topped the men's 1,500-meter run, recording a career-best time of 3:50.36. His time was less than three seconds off the NCAA Regional qualifying standard and less than two seconds outside the all-time top-five at Purdue. The men's 4x100-meter relay team cut a second off its season-best mark, placing third with a time of 41.64.
Senior Leah Kincaid and junior Ranay Harvey were the top two collegiate finishers in the women's 100-meter hurdles, as Kincaid clocked a time of 13.62 and Harvey ran a 13.80. Sophomore Stacey Wannemacher grabbed second in the women's shot put with a toss of 14.98 meters (41-01.75), while fellow sophomore Christina Madison fell just shy of her top mark of the season in the long jump, placing sixth with a jump of 5.93 meter s (19-05.50). Wannemacher also increased her season best in the discus, hurling it 46.61 meters (152-11) for third place. Rookie Tara Turnbull took second in the pole vault, matching her season-best jump of 3.70 meters (12-01.50).
The Boilermakers return home next weekend, honoring their home facility's namesake with the Dave Rankin Invitational.