Oct. 17, 2009
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Purdue men's and women's cross country turned in second-place team finishes at the Sam Bell Invitational on Saturday, hosted by Indiana University. The Boilermaker women were just edged out by the host Hoosiers in the team standings, 31-37, while the Purdue men tallied 55 points.
Purdue's 37 points on the women's side came on the strength of impressive 6K efforts from freshman Camille Buscomb and senior Kristin Phillips. Buscomb finished third overall with a time of 22:00.72, while Phillips turned in the No. 4 time in the team scoring (the fourth-place individual placer ran unattached), crossing the line in 22:06.25. Phillips' effort is the best season-opening 6K of her Purdue career, falling just 23 seconds shy of her career best, while Buscomb's time is 26 seconds short of the Boilermakers' all-time top-10 list.
Sophomore Big Ten Women's Runner of the Week Katie Conrad turned in Purdue's No. 3 time, setting a personal 6K record for the second straight week with her mark of 22:34.56, while senior Sarah Klaczynski shattered her career-best 6K time by over a minute, finishing fourth on the team in 22:34.82. Sophomore Stephanie Bonk was the final scorer for the Boilermakers, finishing 12th overall in 22:40.09, also a 6K career best, and freshman Kelly McCurdy capped a string of four straight Boilermakers across the line in personal records, posting a time of 22:41.29.
On the men's side, Purdue was without junior Caden Shields for the second straight race, but also received second consecutive solid efforts from sophomores Cale Allen and Charles White, and a nice return showing from classmate Simon Rogers. Allen finished ninth overall with an 8K time of 25:49.91, followed closely by Rogers in 10th at 26:09.38. White came in 12th for the Boilermakers' No. 3 spot, posting a mark of 26:17.64, and fellow sophomore Ladd Mercer and rookie Stephen Schulz crossed the line 14th and 15th overall in 26:20.90 and 26:22.05, respectively.
The Boilermakers are off next weekend, setting up for the Big Ten Championships, scheduled for Sunday, Nov. 1, at Penn State University.