Jan. 28, 2010
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue men's and women's track and field teams continue their indoor seasons this weekend, traveling to Big Ten rival University of Wisconsin for the Wisconsin Elite Invitational. Already the Boilermakers' third scored competition of the season, Purdue is set to compete against the host Badgers, Indiana State University, the University of South Dakota and University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
The Boilermakers head into the weekend fresh off their 15th consecutive Gene Edmonds Cup victory, taking a 182-141 win over Indiana State last Saturday at Lambert Fieldhouse. Purdue added three NCAA provisional qualifiers and improved four others as eight Boilermakers have earned a chance to go to the indoor national championships. Junior Stacey Wannemacher highlights the list so far, breaking her own indoor school record in the women's shot put twice and owning the nation's No. 6 mark at 16.47 meters (54-00.50).
This weekend's meet features several outstanding event fields, including some of the top talent in the Big Ten Conference and all of NCAA Division I. On the men's side, the high jump features a quartet of NCAA provisional qualifiers, including two of the top-10 marks in the country, while the 60-meter hurdles and pole vault will be showdowns between two of the top competitors in the Big Ten. The women's jumps will be incredibly tough across the board, including a matchup of three of the nation's best in the pole vault, and the Big Ten's top three marks this season in both the long jump and triple jump.
The men's high jump at last weekend's Gene Edmonds Cup was a thrilling contest between Indiana State's Major Clay, Purdue senior Adetayo Adesanya and Boilermaker freshman Geoff Davis. Davis won the event with fewer misses than Clay as both cleared 2.18 meters (7-01.75), while Adesanya improved his season best to 2.15 meters (7-00.50). Davis is tied for 10th in the nation entering the weekend, Clay is tied for sixth with his top mark of 2.19 meters (7-02.25) and Adesanya shares the No. 18 mark in the country. The competition should improve this weekend with the addition of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Quinn Mongroven, who cleared the provisional standard of 2.14 meters (7-00.25) last Saturday's dual meet with Marquette.
Purdue junior All-American Josh Hembrough will face his first tough test of the season in the 60-meter hurdles, set to go head-to-head with Big Ten rival Nate Larkin of Wisconsin. Hembrough claimed his first national honor in 2009, taking eighth place at last year's indoor championships after qualifying with a career-best time of 7.77 seconds. He won the 2008 60-meter hurdle title at the Big Ten Indoor Championships, earning Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors, and has captured back-to-back 110-meter hurdle championships at the outdoor conference meet, advancing to the NCAA Outdoor Championships both seasons. Larkin is among the Big Ten elite in the hurdles, taking second in the 60-meter hurdles at the 2009 indoor conference meet en route to a NCAA Indoor Championship appearance, and placing third at last year's Big Ten Outdoor Championships in the 110-meter hurdles on his way to the outdoor national meet. Hembrough owns a season best of 7.94 seconds, while Larkin enters the weekend with a top time of 8.02.
The men's pole vault is set to feature two of the conference's best as Purdue's defending Big Ten Outdoor Champion Eric Sparks faces Wisconsin's Mickey DeFilippo. Already clearing 5.31 meters (17-05.00) this season, good for a tie for 12th in the country, Sparks has won the last two outdoor conference titles, won the 2009 NCAA Mideast Regional crown and has been to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in each of the last three years. DeFilippo currently ranks fourth in the Big Ten with a top height of 5.16 meters (16-11.00) this season after placing in both conference championships last season and advancing to the national outdoor meet.
Last weekend's women's pole vault was a thriller at Lambert Fieldhouse as Purdue senior Brianna Neumann and Indiana State's Kylie Hutson both broke the facility record and cleared season bests. Neumann went an indoor career best 4.12 meters (13-06.25), good for the No. 2 height in the Big Ten and tied for 10th in the nation, while Hutson, the defending NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Champion, hit the NCAA automatic qualifying standard of 4.25 meters (13-11.25) to set a new Lambert Fieldhouse record. The field gets deeper this weekend as the Badgers' Jenny Soceka looks to mark her first height of the season after a pair of no-heights the last two weeks. Soceka holds the Wisconsin school record in the pole vault, clearing 4.05 meters (13-03.50) at the 2008 Big Ten Championships en route to a second place finish, and earned All-America honors at the 2008 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Both the women's long and triple jumps feature the top three marks in the Big Ten heading into the weekend as Purdue senior Christina Madison and Wisconsin senior Chavon Robinson account for two of the three marks in both events, while Boilermaker sophomore Leah Eber holds the No. 2 spot in the long jump and Purdue senior Nkeiru Ugwoaba is second in the Big Ten in the triple jump.
Madison leads the conference and shares the No. 14 spot in the country in the long jump, posting a career best mark of 6.19 meters (20-03.75) at the Gene Edmonds Cup, while Robinson is right behind her with a NCAA provisional qualifying jump of 6.14 meters (20-01.75). Eber is just shy of the provisional standard with her career and season best mark of 6.10 meters (20-00.25), and looks to join Madison and Robinson on the national list.
The triple jump is headlined by Indiana State senior Lauren Martin, who notched the No. 4 mark in the country and set the Lambert Fieldhouse record in the event at the Gene Edmonds Cup last weekend. Robinson owns the top mark in the Big Ten, leaping 12.62 meters (41-05.00) at the Wisconsin Quad two weeks ago, Ugwoaba, the Purdue indoor record holder, is second in the conference at 12.35 meters (40-06.25) and Madison is third, leaping 12.25 meters (40-02.25) each of the last two weekends.
Purdue junior Emily Breslin is fresh off her career best and first NCAA provisional qualifier in the women's high jump last weekend, clearing 1.78 meters (5-10.00), and has a stiff challenge this weekend in a trio of Badger high jumpers. Senior Megan Seidl is tied for second in the conference this season with a top mark of 1.79 meters (5-10.50), while sophomore teammates Monika Jakutyte and Dorcas Akinniyi are in the top-eight of the conference with respective heights of 1.76 meters (5-09.25) and 1.73 meters (5-08.00).
Action beings tomorrow as Purdue senior Lance Moe is set to compete in his first heptathlon of the year, while the full list of individual events starts on Saturday at 11 a.m. (EST). Live results will be available at PurdueSports.com, courtesy of the University of Wisconsin.