Feb. 25, 2010
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue women's track and field team heads to Penn State University this weekend for the Big Ten Indoor Women's Championships on Saturday and Sunday at the Ashenfelter Multi-Sport Facility. The Boilermaker women hope to improve upon last year's eighth-place, 38.5-point showing, heading to the championships with several highly-touted athletes.
Purdue looks to do most of its damage in the field events, as they boast some of the conference's top marks in the jumps and throws. The Old Gold and Black have one conference leader heading to State College, Pa., with several other entries ranked inside the top-five in the Big Ten in their respective events.
Sophomore Leah Eber headlines the list with the Big Ten's top mark in the long jump at 6.23 meters (20-05.25), followed closely by senior teammate Christina Madison at 6.19 meters (20-03.75) to post a 1-2 attack in the event. Eber's mark equals the Boilermakers' indoor school record and is tied for 18th in NCAA Division I, while Madison's matched the Lambert Fieldhouse record and is third all-time at Purdue.
Madison and senior teammate Nkeiru Ugwoaba are two of the conference's best in the triple jump as Ugwoaba is the defending Big Ten Indoor Champion and Madison is fresh off a career best in the event two weeks ago. Ugwoaba broke a 21-year old Purdue indoor record at last year's conference meet, marking 12.90 meters (42-04.00) to post the Boilermakers' long individual title. She owns a season-best mark of 12.63 meters (41-05.25), good for second in the conference, and Madison is right behind her at 12.60 meters (41-04.25).
Senior Brianna Neumann has had an outstanding indoor season in the pole vault, and looks to cap it with her first Big Ten title this weekend. Neumann has won six of eight competitions this season, falling only to the defending national champion and clearing five personal records in the process. She cleared the NCAA automatic qualifying standard last weekend at the Boilermaker Invitational, matching the Purdue indoor and Lambert Fieldhouse record with a height of 4.25 meters (13-11.25). Neumann trails only Minnesota senior Alicia Rue in the conference standings, but beat Rue head-to-head at the Notre Dame Meyo Invitational this season. Boilermaker sophomore Elizabeth Stover offers support in the pole vault, coming into the championships with the Big Ten's No. 6 mark of 3.92 meters (12-10.25).
Junior Stacey Wannemacher has already established herself as one of the top throwers in Purdue history, and looks to build on that this weekend with two of the nation's top marks in the shot put and weight throw. Wannemacher sits second in the conference and eighth in the nation in the shot put with a Purdue indoor record of 16.47 meters (54-00.25), and ranks third in the Big Ten and 21st in the country in the weight throw at 19.36 meters (63-06.25). She will dual with Indiana rival Faith Sherrill, who leads the conference in both events, along with Illinois rival Aja Evans in the shot put and Wisconsin's Johanne Verpil in the weight throw. Purdue sophomore Terri Anderson looks to place in the shot put in her third consecutive conference championships, taking sixth indoors and third outdoors last season. Anderson's season best of 15.08 meters (49-05.75) is seventh in the Big Ten and good for fourth all-time on Purdue's indoor list.
Junior Emily Breslin rounds out the list of Boilermaker field standouts, heading to Penn State with the conference's No. 4 mark in the high jump. Her career-best mark of 1.78 meters (5-11.00) is good for NCAA provisional qualification. Breslin claimed the silver medal at the 2009 Big Ten Outdoor Championships and placed seventh at last year's indoor conference championships and the 2008 outdoor meet.
The Boilermakers don't have many individuals ranked in the conference standings on the track side, but have some hope for scoring from Eber and seniors Rachel Stalzer, Nan Hammel and Kristin Phillips. Eber has a season and career best of 7.68 in the 60-meter dash, less than a tenth of a second out of the top-eight standings, while Stalzer owns the conference's No. 8 mark in 600-meter run at 1:32.62. Hammel and Phillips both qualified for the finals at the 2009 Big Ten Outdoor Championships in the 800- and 1,500-meter run, respectively. Hammel has a season-best time of 2:11.15 in the 800, good for 10th in the conference, while Phillips is fresh off a career-best time of 4:54.48 in the mile run, and should be a key member of the Boilermakers' distance medley relay squad.
Action is schedule to begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday with the pentathlon, and resume Sunday at 11 a.m. with the high jump. For more information on the championships, visit the Nittany Lions' official website.