May 3, 2008
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Purdue men's and women's track and field teams posted a slew of career- and season-best marks on Saturday at the 23rd annual Jesse Owens Track Classic, hosted by Ohio State University. Among those was senior Leah Kincaid's second straight school record in the women's long jump as she placed second with a mark of 6.37 meters (20-10.75).
Kincaid continues to climb the national rankings in the long jump, moving up into a tie for ninth place with Saturday's mark. She remains second in the NCAA Mideast Region and first in the Big Ten Conference in the event. Junior Kara Patterson was the Boilermakers' top placer on the day, winning the women's javelin throw with a mark of 55.97 meters (183-07).
Sophomore Stacey Wannemacher improved her career-best in the women's shot put, placing fourth with a throw of 15.85 meters (52-00.00). Her throw is the second-best in school history and bumps her up to eighth in the NCAA Mideast Regional standings. Fellow sophomore Christina Madison improved both of her career-best marks in the triple jump and long jump, placing fourth in the triple jump with a leap of 12.55 meters (41-02.25), and taking seventh in the long jump at 6.11 meters (20-00.50). However, due to wind regulations, she may only use her second-best jump of 6.08 meters (19-11.25) for NCAA qualifying purposes. Sophomore Brianna Neumann cleared the NCAA Regional standard in the women's pole vault for the second straight week, tying for second with her mark of 3.85 meters (12-07.50).
Junior Ranay Harvey set a new personal record in the women's 100-meter hurdles, climbing to fourth on Purdue's all-time list, placing ninth overall and climbing to sixth in the Big Ten standings with a time of 13.59. Classmate Lauren Scott notched a career-best time of her own in the women's 400-meter dash, earning ninth place overall with a time of 56.56. Freshman Emily Breslin took home fifth in the women's high jump with a mark of 1.65 meters (5-05.00), and junior Ranay Harvey and freshman NaTasha Blair came home seventh and eighth, respectively, in the women's 400-meter hurdles with times of 1:02.18 and 1:03.18. Sophomore Ashlee Lengacher finished sixth in the women's 800-meter run, crossing the line in 2:11.11.
Sophomore Eric Sparks led the Boilermaker men, winning the men's pole vault with a height of 5.20 meters (17-00.75), while rookie Billy Hardcastle climbed to third in the conference and fifth in the region with his career-best and bronze-medal mark of 18.20 meters in the men's shot put (59-08.50). Senior captain Brian Kaluf improved his career record and NCAA Regional qualifying mark in the men's 110-meter hurdles, placing fourth with a time of 14.12. He scored another fourth-place finish in the 400-meter hurdles, just missing his personal best with a time of 52.20. Fellow senior Jh'Rome Tuggle and junior Zach Logan came in fourth and fifth, respectively, both posting season-best times in the men's 400-meter dash at 47.54 and 47.55, while Tuggle returned in the 200-meter dash to finish fifth and just miss his season-best mark with a time of 21.26.
Junior Stephen Bach notched a personal best in the men's 800-meter run, taking seventh place with a time of 1:52.27. Classmate Ben Harpenau finished eighth in the men's hammer throw, securing the top Big Ten mark on the day with a toss of 62.35 meters (204-07). Sophomores Adetayo Adesanya and Lance Moe tied for third and fifth, respectively, in the men's high jump clearing 2.10 meters (6-10.75) and 2.07 meters (6-09.50). Senior Jim Schwingendorf closed out the meet with a fifth-place showing in the men's javelin throw, hurling it 60.31 meters (197-10).
The Boilermakers wrap up the regular season on Friday at Indiana University's Billy Hayes Invitational, before heading to Champaign, Ill. for the Big Ten Outdoor Championships on May 15.