March 8, 2010
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue track and field teams received four bids to the 2010 NCAA Indoor Championships on Monday night advancing two members of the men's team and a pair of athletes from the women's squad. Senior Brianna Neumann earned an automatic berth to the national championships, while the other three qualifiers earned spots with provisional standards.
The NCAA Indoor Championship meet will be hosted this Friday and Saturday, March 12-13, by the University of Arkansas at the Randal Tyson Track Center in Fayetteville, Ark. For more information on the championships, visit the official NCAA website.
Neumann matched the Purdue Indoor and Lambert Fieldhouse record in the women's pole vault this season, matching a career-best mark with a jump of 4.25 meters (13-11.25) at the Boilermaker Invitational. She's one of 15 athletes to clear the NCAA automatic standard this season, heading to the championships tied for 12th in the country. She looks to become the third Purdue woman to achieve All-America status in the indoor pole vault, trying to join Amy Spellmeyer (2000) and former teammate Mallory Peck (2007 & 2008).
Joining Neumann on the women's side, junior Stacey Wannemacher is the first Boilermaker to qualify for the national indoor meet in two events since 2004, when Scott Hecht advanced in the shot put and weight throw, and is the first Purdue woman in school history to achieve the feat. Wannemacher qualified in the shot put and weight throw this season, breaking her own Purdue indoor record in the shot put with a mark of 16.47 meters (54-00.25), good for 14th in the country, and hurling the third-best weight throw mark in school history at 19.90 meters (65-03.50). She aims to become the first woman in school history to earn All-America honors in the indoor shot put, and just the fourth woman at Purdue to achieve the award in the weight throw. The Boilermakers' only NCAA Indoor Championship in school history came in the weight throw in 1999 from Toyinda Smith. Smith was also an All-American in 1998, while Amy Hogan achieved the feat in 1989 and Astin Steward set the Purdue record in the weight throw at the 2008 indoor championships.
On the men's side, junior Shane Crawford and freshman Geoff Davis both earned bids to the national meet as Crawford qualified in the 60-meter dash and David advanced in the high jump. Crawford secured his national bid with a Purdue record and Big Ten Championship time of 6.66 at the conference meet on Feb. 27. He heads to Arkansas tied for the 13th-fastest time in the nation, and the entire field is separated by just 0.08 seconds as Crawford looks to become the first Boilermaker to earn All-America status in the event.
Davis hopes to continue the Boilermakers' national legacy in the men's high jump, clearing a career best 2.20 meters (7-02.50) to qualify for the national meet. Davis' height is the fourth-best in school history and tied for 12th in the nation this season as he looks to become the fifth Purdue male to achieve indoor All-America status in the event. Former Purdue great Shaun Guice headlines the list, earning four straight national honors from 2000-to-2003, followed by Noel Ruebel in 1977, Dave Glassburn in 1988, and Bill Bluethmann in 1989.
For a full list of the NCAA qualifiers on both the men's and women's sides click here. Crawford opens the Boilermakers' competition on Friday at 7:25 p.m. (ET), while Wannemacher, Neumann and Davis follow on Saturday, beginning with the women's shot put at 5:30 p.m. (ET). A recap of both days' action will be available at PurdueSports.com at the conclusion of each session of competition.