May 21, 2010
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue men's and women's track and field teams were awarded 16/17/18 bids to the inaugural NCAA East Preliminary Rounds on Friday, sending the teams to Irwin Belk Track at North Carolina A&T University for next week's three-day qualifying event. Ten qualifiers are on the men's side for the Boilermakers, while the Purdue women advance nine to take a shot at advancing to the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Championships.
The NCAA changed the championship qualifying format in 2009, altering the event from four regional sites with a standard qualifying mark to a pair of competition sites which are set to include the top-48 competitors in each event from the eastern and western regions. Under the new set up, the top 12 finishers in each event at next weekend's preliminary rounds will advance to the NCAA Championships, set for June 9-12 at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Ore.
The Purdue men's qualifiers consist of seniors Lance Moe, Adetayo Adesanya and Eric Sparks, juniors Chris Thoman, Bill Hardcastle and Jacob Palmer, and freshmen Geoff Davis, Kyle Campbell, Jakob Engel and Simon Rogers. The Boilermakers have a trio of qualifiers in the men's high jump in Adesanya, Davis and Moe, as Adesanya looks for his second All-America honor, Davis looks to advance to nationals outdoors after qualifying indoors as a rookie and Moe heads to his fourth NCAA postseason. Adesanya took fifth place in the event at the 2009 NCAA Outdoor Championships, clearing a career best 2.20 meters (7-02.50) and becoming one of 27 men's All-Americans in school history. Davis has already become one of the top high jumpers in school history, logging the No. 4 indoor mark in school history at 2.20 meters (7-02.50) and tying for second all-time outdoors at 2.22 meters (7-03.25). Moe advanced to three straight NCAA Mideast Regional Championships over the last few seasons, and has cleared a career best 2.14 meters (7-00.25) this season.
The Boilermakers also advance a trio of competitors in the men's pole vault in Sparks, Thoman and Campbell. Sparks has his sights set on his fourth straight trip to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, qualifying for the preliminaries with a top mark of 5.32 meters (17-05.50) this season, and enters the event ranked ninth in the east region. Thoman has a top mark of 5.10 meters (16-08.75) this season and Campbell notched a career-best mark of 5.00 meters (16-04.75) at the Big Ten Championships to qualify.
Hardcastle aims for his second trip to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, looking to return to the national meet after making his first bid in 2008. A double qualifier this season, he is set to compete in the shot put and the discus next weekend with his top mark as the No. 15 throw in the region in the discus at 54.86 meters (180-00), good for the 2010 Big Ten Championship in the event. Hardcastle will be joined in the preliminary rounds of the shot put by Engel who's ready to compete in his first NCAA postseason event.
Palmer and Rogers are the lone qualifiers on the track for the Boilermakers, advancing in the 800- and 1,500-meter run, respectively. Palmer clocked a career-best time of 1:49.69 in the finals of the 800 at the Big Ten Championships, earning seventh place and climbing to No. 38 on the regional list. Rogers heads to the preliminary rounds with the No. 40 mark in the east in the 1,500, clocking a career-best mark of 3:46.41, good for third in Purdue's outdoor history.
On the women's side, seniors Brianna Neumann, Nkeiru Ugwoaba, Sarah Klaczynski and Nan Hammel, junior Emily Breslin, sophomores Elizabeth Stover, Leah Eber and Terri Anderson and freshman Alice Feslier Holmes make up the Boilermakers' qualifiers for the east preliminary rounds. Neumann and Stover both advance to the national qualifier in the women's pole vault as Neumann hopes to return to the national meet after qualifying outdoors in 2008 and indoors this season, while Stover aims for her first NCAA Championship appearance. Neumann owns the Boilermakers' indoor and outdoor pole vault records as her top outdoor mark of 4.20 meters (13-09.25) is good for fourth in the east region this season.
Ugwoaba won her second career Big Ten Championship last weekend in the women's triple jump, setting the Boilermakers' outdoor record with a mark of 12.95 meters (42-06.00) and climbing to 12th on the east preliminary championship list. After qualifying for the last two regional qualifiers in 2008 and 2009, she looks to advance to the national meet this season. Breslin and Eber join her in the women's jumps as Breslin qualifies in the high jump, while Eber advances in the long jump. Breslin is tied for the No. 13 mark in the east with a height of 1.80 meters (5-10.75), while Eber heads to the qualifier tied for the No. 8 mark at 6.26 meters (20-06.50), good for third all-time at Purdue.
Klaczynski, Hammel and Feslier Holmes all own qualifying marks in the track events, led by Klaczynski's No. 9 mark in the region in the 3,000-meter steeplechase. She's had a breakout season in the event, improving her time by more than a minute and earning a bronze medal at the Big Ten Championships last weekend with a career-best mark of 10:23.28, good for third all-time at Purdue. Hammel posted a career best at the conference meet as well, placing fourth in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:07.78, while Feslier Holmes advanced to the finals in the 1,500, racing a career-best time of 4:26.87 in the conference prelims.
Last, and definitely not least, Anderson heads to the NCAA preliminary rounds with a pair of qualifiers in the women's shot put and discus. Taking third at the Big Ten Championships in both events, she tossed a career-best 15.66 meters (51-04.50) in the shot put at the conference meet, while her top mark in the discus of 52.99 meters (173-10) is the No. 10 mark in the region and second-best all-time at Purdue.
Live coverage of the Boilermakers' action at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds will be available at the Boilermakers' Official Twitter Page, while live results of the championships and more information can be found here.