Jan. 9, 2010
Complete Results | Photo Gallery
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue men's and women's track and field teams opened up their indoor seasons on Saturday, hosting the Purdue Invitational. Junior Stacey Wannemacher and seniors Brianna Neumann and Adetayo Adesanya led the way in the season-opener, scoring the Boilermakers' first three NCAA provisional qualifying marks.
Wannemacher wasted no time in restamping the Purdue record books, smashing her own indoor shot put record with a bomb of 16.24 meters (53-03.50). The mark is just two centimeters shy of the nation's top mark heading into the weekend, and bettered her previous school record by 43 centimeters (1-05) inches). She also crushed her personal record in the women's weight throw, marking 18.18 meters (59-07.75) to win the meet.
Neumann missed the Lambert Fieldhouse women's pole vault record by just one centimeter, clearing 4.10 meters (13-05.25) and moving herself to third all-time on the Boilermakers' indoor records list. Adesanya matched his indoor career best, leaping 2.14 meters (7-00.25) to win the men's high jump.
Several Boilermaker women got off to great starts on Saturday, breaking or just missing personal records in their first meet of the year. Sophomore Leah Eber posted an indoor personal best in the long jump, topping the field and matching the fifth-best mark in Purdue's indoor history with a leap of 5.91 meters (19-04.75). Sophomore Terri Anderson followed Wannemacher in the shot put and weight throw, crushing her personal records with a toss of 14.90 meters (48-10.75) in the shot put and a mark of 15.60 meters (51-02.25) in the weight throw. Fellow sophomore Emily Leckenby also notched a career-best in the weight throw, finishing second overall with her mark of 15.92 meters (52-02.75).
Junior Emily Breslin was just shy of her indoor best in the women's high jump, clearing 1.73 meters (5-08.00), while freshman Kari Shoolbraid made an impressive debut in the 600-meter run, winning the race in 1:37.81. Sophomore Katie Conrad was just a few seconds off her career best in the 3,000-meter run, posting the meet's best time at 10:24.37. Senior Rachel Stalzer turned in an indoor personal record as well, winning the women's 400-meter dash and shaving more than a second off her previous best with a time of 56.96.
The Purdue men showed similar promise with a group of impressive performances, including hot starts by juniors Shane Crawford, Josh Hembrough and Rashad Cannon. Crawford just missed the school record and his personal best in the 60-meter dash, besting the field with a mark of 6.72, while Hembrough was second overall in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 7.98. Cannon topped the men's long jump and posted a great start to his Boilermaker career, leaping 7.33 meters (24-00.75).
Sophomore Ladd Mercer clocked a career best in the one-mile run, crossing the line first in 4:17.37, and classmate Cale Allen was just shy of his top time in the 3,000-meter run, taking first in 8:35.43. Rookie Mitch Erickson needed a jump-off to win the men's pole vault, clearing 4.90 meters (16-00.75) to tie for first with junior teammate Chris Thoman, but upping his mark to 5.00 meters (16-05.00) in the tiebreak. Junior Bill Hardcastle won both the shot put and weight throw on the day, tossing 17.03 meters (55-10.50) in the shot put and a career-best 16.88 meters (55-04.75) in the weight throw.
The Boilermakers return to action next weekend, traveling down to Bloomington, Ind., for a dual meet with archrival Indiana University. Visit PurdueSports.com this week for a full preview of Saturday's event.