June 11, 2008
DES MOINES, Iowa - The Purdue men's and women's track and field teams got things underway on Wednesday at the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Championships, hosted by Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. Of the Boilermakers' seven competitors on the day, one advanced to the NCAA finals, and will compete for a national title on Friday.
Junior Mallory Peck was the lone Boilermaker to move on to the finals, securing a spot in the women's pole vault with a height of 4.10 meters (13-05.50). She'll be one of 15 competitors on Friday, and will shoot for her third career NCAA All-American award and her first national honor outdoors. Sophomore teammate Brianna Neumann just missed the finals, topping out at 3.90 meters (12-09.50) and tying for 23rd place.
On the men's side, sophomore Eric Sparks suffered a similar fate, missing Friday's finals by just one height and finishing at 5.10 meters (16-04.75). Junior Ben Harpenau finished 22nd in the men's hammer throw, marking 60.23 meters (197-07), while seniors Leah Kincaid and Astin Steward were unable to make the finals as well, taking 20th and 17th, respectively, in the women's long jump and women's discus. Kincaid marked 6.17 meters (20-03.00), and Steward topped out at 48.33 meters (158-07). Sophomore Adetayo Adesanya was the Boilermakers' final competitor of the day, but only cleared his first bar of the night, finishing tied for 21st at 2.05 meters (6-08.75).
Boilermaker competition resumes tomorrow at 2:15 p.m. as junior Kara Patterson looks to defend her No. 1 national ranking in the women's javelin.