Sept. 17, 2010
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue men's and women's cross country teams turned in respective second- and third-place finishes at the 2010 Indiana Intercollegiate Championships, hosted by the Boilermakers at the Varsity Cross Country Course on Friday evening. Junior Charles White was the Boilermakers' top finisher on the men's side, while sophomore Camille Buscomb turned in the Purdue women's best effort.
The Boilermaker men turned in their best team effort at the state championship race in recent history, totaling 44 points and finishing just seven points behind event champion Indiana. The reigning Big Ten Runner of the Week, White took home third overall with a solid time of 24:47.00. Sophomore teammate Stephen Schulz was the next Boilermaker across the line, taking eighth with a time of 24:55.70, while junior Cale Allen, sophomore Simon Rogers and senior Caden Shields bunched in 10th, 11th and 12th, with just two seconds separating them. Allen finished in 25:07.60, Rogers was next in 25:08.00 and Shields rounded out the team's top five at 25:09.80.
"I was really pleased with the men's effort as they gave Indiana a good run for the title and we beat Indiana State for the first time in quite a while," said Purdue head coach Jack Warner.
Purdue's second-place effort put them ahead of both Butler and Indiana State, which are ranked fourth and sixth in the Great Lakes Region, respectively. The Boilermakers' team score is 56 tallies better than their 2009 total (100) and 134 points better than their mark in 2008 (178). Indiana's Ben Hubers captured the individual 8K title with a time of 24:33.70, while the individual small school title went to Wabash's Seth Einterz at 25:40.30 as the Little Giants took the team title as well with 38 points.
On the women's side, Buscomb paced the Boilermakers with a fifth-place showing and individual time of 17:49.29. Junior Stephanie Bonk was equally impressive, taking 11th place overall and nearly setting a new personal record with her mark of 18:02.10. Sophomore Kelly McCurdy and junior Kara Conflenti were the next two across the line for the Old Gold and Black, finishing 19th and 21st, with times of 18:27.70 and 18:39.80, while junior Kyla Chapman capped Purdue's scoring in 26th, with a new personal record 5K time of 18:45.00. Other career bests for the Purdue women came from seniors Nan Hammel (18:56.10) and Jennifer Hall (18:58.50), and freshman Autumn Beachy (19:03.60).
"The ladies gave a great effort today," said Warner. "They were pretty steady throughout the race and I'm very encouraged with their positive attitude after the race."
The Boilermakers finished third with 75 points, coming in behind Indiana (26 points) and Butler (53 points). The Hoosiers captured seven of the top 18 spots in the race en route to their second straight state title as Chelsea Blanchard topped the individual field with a time of 17:37.80. The women's small school title belonged to Indianapolis, which totaled 63 points, while Franklin's Heather Waterman nabbed the individual crown with her time of 18:19.90.
Purdue continues its season in two weeks, heading to the University of Wisconsin for the Badgers' adidas Invitational.