Feb. 27, 2010
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Purdue women's track and field team sits in third place after the first day of competition at the Big Ten Indoor Championships, hosted by Penn State University at Ashenfelter Multi-Sport Facility on Saturday. The Boilermakers added the 46th individual Big Ten title in school history as Christina Madison topped the long jump en route to a 36-point team total on the day.
Madison led a 17-point team effort in the long jump as sophomore Leah Eber and senior Nkeiru Ugwoaba added their names to the scoring column as well. Madison marked a career best 6.21 meters (20-04.50) to take the gold, while Eber claimed the bronze with a leap of 5.89 meters (19-04.00) and Ugwoaba was eighth with a season-best 5.73 meters (18-09.75).
Senior Brianna Neumann placed in the pole vault for the seventh time in her career on Saturday, earning her second career Big Ten medal with a third-place effort. She cleared 4.10 meters (13-05.25) clean, and after passing at 4.15 meters (13-07.25), failed to clear 4.20 meters (13-09.25). Neumann has already cleared the automatic standard for the 2010 NCAA Indoor Championships and will continue her season at the University of Arkansas on March 12-13.
The Boilermakers received another multi-placing effort in the shot put as junior Stacey Wannemacher and sophomore Terri Anderson finished third and fourth, respectively, for 11 points. Wannemacher tied for second on the day with her top mark of 15.86 meters (52-00.50), but fell to third place as her second-highest mark was bested by Indiana's Faith Sherrill. Anderson hurled an indoor career best 15.52 meters (50-11.00) on the day, good for NCAA provisional qualification and moves her up to third all-time in Purdue's indoor history in the event.
Seniors Kristin Phillips and Sarah Klaczynski, sophomore Daisy Brey and freshman Kari Shoolbraid teamed for a seventh-place effort in the distance medley relay, posting a season-best time of 11:36.16 for two team points.
Seniors Rachel Stalzer and Nan Hammel put forth amazing efforts on the track to advance to tomorrow's finals in the 600- and 800-meter runs, respectively. Stalzer broke the Purdue indoor record in the 600-meter run with a time of 1:30.24, cracking a 21-year old mark held by Christine McGee since Feb. 24, 1989. Hammel crushed her previous career best in the 800-meter run, posting the second-fastest qualifying time at 2:08.79 and just missing the Boilermakers' all-time top five.
The Boilermakers trail first place Minnesota by five as the Golden Gophers lead with 41 points, while Illinois is just ahead of Purdue with 37 points, and the Boilermakers hold a slight edge over Wisconsin, who is fourth with 34 points.
Sunday's action starts at 11 a.m. (EST) with the high jump, while running events will commence at 1 p.m. with the unseeded 5,000-meter run.