Oct. 4, 2008
AUBURN, Ala. - The Purdue men's and women's cross country teams saw several personal records fall, posting impressive performances at the Auburn University Tiger Invitational on Saturday morning. Junior Kristin Phillips smashed her career-best time by more than a minute as she led the Boilermaker women to a fifth-place team finish in the 5K Mel Rosen orange race.
The Boilermaker women compiled a solid team score of 158 points, finishing ahead of the host Tigers and No. 3 Florida State in the 23-team field. Second-ranked Washington dominated the event, scoring just 19 points and capturing seven of the top-10 places. Oregon State was second with 98 points, Big Ten rival Iowa finished third with 99 and Georgia took home fourth with 158 points.
Phillips's previous 5K best of 17:55 fell by the wayside as she completed Auburn's course in a blazing 16:39.93, good for 10th place overall. She was the second Big Ten finisher in the race, made the Boilermakers the fourth team to cross the line overall and, most importantly, vaulted herself to fifth all-time in the 5K at Purdue. Becky Cotta ran a 5K race of 16:24.00 in 1983 to set the Purdue record, and posted marks of 16:37.0 and 16:39.0 that season as well, while Lindsay Zinn, posted a time of 16:28.1 at the 2001 Indiana Intercollegiates. Phillips is the first Boilermaker to break the 17-minute barrier for 5K since 2001.
"She came on a mission today," said Purdue women's distance coach Kelly Phillips. "Kristin wasn't going to settle for anything less than an awesome run, and she succeeded greatly."
Fellow junior Katie Morrical snagged the second Purdue scoring spot, shaving more than 20 seconds off her career-best and taking 30th overall with a time of 17:18.41, while sophomore teammate Kristina Krasich was right on her heels in 31st at 17:22.32. Senior Lynn Marsh took the Boilermakers' fourth spot, crossing the line 49th in 17:47.76, while junior Danielle Eagan capped the scoring in 53rd with a time of 17:54.12.
The personal records continued throughout the women's ranks as freshman Stephanie Bonk (17:59.54), junior Ashlee Lengacher (18:01.86), sophomore Nicole Kreis (18:22.98), junior Sarah Klaczynski (18:34.62), freshman Katie Conrad (18:39.76) and sophomore Maggie Daly (18:53.78) all shattered career-best times.
On the men's side, the Boilermakers built a team score of 344, good for 13th of 24 teams. The host Tigers captured the team title with an impressive score of 31 points, edging out Washington (49 pts.) and Iowa (72 pts.).
Freshman Cale Allen returned to the top spot for the Boilermakers, finishing with a lifetime-best 8K time of 24:34.87. Sophomore Chase Kaufman was the team's second placer, smashing his career-best 8K time b y more than two minutes with a mark of 24:37.24, while senior Steve Swank PR'd for the second straight week, crossing the line in 24:56.85. Rookie Dominic DeSantis was the fourth Boilermaker scorer, completing the course in 25:20.67, while sophomore Andrew Prieshoff and freshman Steve O'Donnell finished back-to-back in 25:35.53 and 25:36.03, respectively. Rookie Ladd Mercer rounded out the list of career-bests, finishing in 25:51.26.
The Boilermakers are set to face their stiffest competition of the season in two weeks, heading down to Terre Haute, Ind. for Indiana State's Pre-National Invitational. The Boilermaker women look to continue their outstanding improvements of the 2008 campaign, while the Purdue men could get a huge boost from the probable debut of New Zealand junior champion Caden Shields.