June 11, 2009
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Purdue junior Stacey Wannemacher earned NCAA All-America honors in the women's shot put to lead the Boilermakers at the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, hosted by the University of Arkansas on Thursday. Sophomore Josh Hembrough followed with success of his own, qualifying for the semifinals in the men's 110-meter hurdles.
Wannemacher finished fourth overall, just missing yesterday's school record throw with a toss of 16.52 meters (54-02.50). After opening with a toss of 15.31 meters (50-02.00), she came up big on her second throw, marking just a centimeter shy of her Purdue outdoor record and launching herself from 11th to fourth place overall. She held on to that spot through the next four rounds of throws, finishing ahead of Big Ten rivals Aja Evans of Illinois and Tiffany Howard of Indiana to earn five team points and give the Boilermakers fourth place after the first event scored of the championships.
"This feels awesome," said Wannemacher. "To compete on this stage and finish as the No. 4 thrower in the country after coming in ranked 13th is fantastic."
She knew her second throw was a big one, but had to hold on to the edge of the ring to prevent the foul. "I had an incredible wrap on my turn and knew I had a huge throw," she said. "I owe a lot to Coach Ross (Richardson) as he moved my start over today. If he hadn't moved me, there's no way I could have stayed in the ring."
Wannemacher is the 39th All-American in Purdue's women's history and their seventh in the last three years. She also marked the third consecutive season a Boilermaker woman has earned national honors in a throws event as Lindsey Blaine (javelin) and Astin Steward (discus) were recognized in 2007, and senior teammate Kara Patterson (javelin) nabbed All-America honors in 2008.
Hembrough moved on to the semifinals of the men's 110-meter hurdles, placing fourth in his heat with a time of 14.04. The top three finishers in each heat earned automatic spots in the semifinals, along with the next six fastest times. Hembrough earned the second of the six time qualifiers and finished tied with the 13th fastest preliminary time. He advances to tomorrow's race, which will consist of two, nine-man heats and is scheduled to start at 7:05 p.m.
Joining Hembrough tomorrow is Patterson and junior Adetayo Adesanya, who are scheduled to compete in the finals of the women's javelin and men's high jump, respectively. Patterson will throw at 5:30 p.m., while Adesanya follows at 7 p.m.