Jan. 16, 2010
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Purdue men's and women's track and field teams suffered tough head-to-head losses to archrival Indiana University as the women fell 93-43, while the men lost 96-40 at Gladstein Fieldhouse on Saturday. The Boilermakers added a pair of NCAA provisional qualifiers on the men's side, while Leah Eber led the Purdue women, winning a trio of events with personal record marks.
Both the men's and women's teams for the Boilermakers were without several standouts, including 2009 All-Americans Josh Hembrough and Stacey Wannemacher, weakening the Purdue rosters for the dual, the first between Purdue and Indiana since 2004. The Boilermakers won five events on the women's side and three on the men's side, while the Hoosiers were able to sweep seven events and all four relays on the day.
The Boilermakers got an impressive performance in the women's long jump as Eber and senior Christina Madison both topped the six-meter mark in a 1-2 finish. Eber posted the second-best indoor mark in school history, leaping 6.09 meters (19-11.75), while Madison just missed her career-best in the event, marking 6.04 meters (19-09.75); both are just shy of the NCAA provisional standard of 6.13 meters (20-01.50).
Eber rounded out an outstanding day in the 60- and 200-meter dash races, winning both and leading classmate Elise Glass in first-and-third efforts. Eber topped the 60-meter dash in a career-best 7.73 seconds, and won the 200-meter dash in a career-best time of 25.18. Glass posted times of 8.04 and 25.74 in the two races, respectively.
Madison added another second place finish in the women's triple jump, finishing behind senior teammate Nkeiru Ugwoaba, who won the event with a season-best mark of 12.35 meters (40-06.25). Madison posted one of her top efforts in her indoor career, leaping 12.25 meters (40-02.25).
Purdue senior Brianna Neumann and sophomore Elizabeth Stover picked up seven points in the women's pole vault as Neumann topped the field with a clearance of 3.94 meters (12-11.25), while Stover tied for second with a mark of 3.74 meters (12-03.25).
Junior Rachel Stalzer posted the fourth-fastest women's 600-meter run time in school history, taking third place in the event with a time of 1:32.62. Freshman Terri Anderson vaulted herself on to the Boilermakers' indoor top-five list as well, marking an indoor career-best 15.08 meters (49-05.75) to notch the fourth-best toss in Purdue history.
On the men's side, senior Eric Sparks opened his indoor season with an NCAA provisional qualifier and personal record in the pole vault, clearing 5.31 meters (17-05.00) to place second overall. Freshman teammate Mitch Erickson improved his season-best to pick up third in the pole vault, clearing 5.01 meters (16-05.25).
Freshman Geoff Davis became the Purdue men's second NCAA provisional qualifier of the season in the high jump, tying senior teammate Adetayo Adesanya for second place with a mark of 2.14 meters (7-00.25).
Junior Rashad Cannon topped the long jump with a mark of 7.45 meters (24-05.50), missing the NCAA provisional mark by just five centimeters (7.50m/24-07.25). Classmate Chris Kirtz followed him in the event, taking third place with a mark of 7.09 meters (23-03.25). Cannon returned to score another team point with a third-place effort in the triple jump with a mark of 14.31 meters (46-11.50).
Boilermaker junior Bill Hardcastle led a 1-2 finish in the men's shot put, tossing 16.70 meters (54-09.50) to win the event while freshman Jakob Engel was second with a toss of 16.07 meters (52-08.75). Hardcastle tallied another point in the weight throw, tossing it a career-best 17.38 meters (57-00.25) to finish third overall.
Junior Shane Crawford turned in his second straight impressive effort in the 60-meter dash, topping the field with a time of 6.73. He also earned a team point with a third-place effort in the 200-meter dash, finishing behind sophomore teammate Mike Willey with times of 22.25 and 22.52.
Junior Caden Shields debuted in the men's 3,000-meter run, taking second place with a time of 8:18.51, while sophomore Josh Lee grabbed second in the 400-meter dash with a time of 50.21.
The Boilermakers continue scored competition next weekend as they host the 15th annual Gene Edmonds Cup and look for their 15th consecutive head-to-head victory over Indiana State on Saturday at 11 a.m., at Lambert Fieldhouse.