Feb. 28, 2010
MINNEAPOLIS - The Purdue men's track and field team returned to the top half of the indoor conference standings this season, finishing fourth at the 2010 Big Ten Indoor Championships with 67 team points. Junior Shane Crawford led the way for the Boilermakers, winning the 60-meter dash, while four other individuals posted placewinning performances on the day.
The Boilermakers' team point total bested last year's finish by 25.5 points and six places, earning their second top-five conference finish in the last three years. Minnesota captured the Big Ten title on its home turf, rolling to 160.5 points. Ohio State was second overall with 112.5 points, while Wisconsin was third with 82 points. Purdue's finish ahead of archrival Indiana (tied for sixth, 51 points) earns the Boilermakers a point in the Crimson and Gold Cup standings, giving Purdue a half-point lead (6.0 to 5.5).
Crawford broke the Boilermakers' school record in the 60-meter dash for the second straight day, blowing away the field with a time of 6.66. The mark was almost a tenth of a second faster than the second-place finisher and is now tied for 10th in the nation, which should earn Crawford a trip to his first NCAA Indoor Championship meet in two weeks at the University of Arkansas.
Senior Adetayo Adesanya finished with a trio of placewinning performances at the championships, adding fifth-place efforts in the triple jump and high jump on Sunday. He marked 15.03 meters (49-03.75) in the triple, and backed up freshman teammate Geoff Davis in the high jump with a mark of 2.11 meters (6-11.00). Davis was fourth in the high jump, clearing 2.14 meters (7-00.25) on the day.
Junior Jacob Palmer posted his second career-best time in the 800-meter run in as many days, speeding to a fourth-place performance with a time of 1:51.84, and classmate Josh Hembrough was seventh in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.13. Sophomore Mike Willey completed the stretch of individual track scorers as he earned fourth in the 200-meter dash with an indoor career-best time of 21.77.
The Boilermakers' 4x400-meter relay squad closed out the meet with a final team point and eighth-place finish as Palmer and Willey teamed with sophomores Josh Lee and Gabe Pirtle for a time of 3:17.06.
Several Boilermakers will compete at last chance meets next weekend, looking to advance to the national championships. Eight Boilermakers, including Crawford, Davis and Adesanya, have NCAA provisional qualifying marks and hope to head to Fayetteville, Ark.