Oct. 16, 2010
TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - The Purdue men's cross country team turned in a 19th-place effort while the Boilermaker women harriers finished 31st in the respective Blue Races at the Pre-National Invitational, hosted by Indiana State University at La Vern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course on Saturday. Sophomore Camille Buscomb turned in the top individual showing on the day, placing 47th in the women's 6K race with a time of 21:15.1.
The Boilermaker men totaled 549 team points to finish 19th out of 35 teams in the Blue race, which was definitely the faster of the two men's 8K competitions on the day. Sophomore Stephen Schulz paced the team, taking 51st overall with a time of 24:27.6 and running under the 24:30-mark for the second straight competition. Senior Caden Shields notched the second placing, running 81st with a time of 24:45.1, and junior co-captain Cale Allen was right behind him in 82nd at 24:45.6. Junior Charles White and freshman Scott Vicenzi rounded out the team scoring with respective times of 25:17.6 and 26:07.4.
Top-ranked Stanford won the Men's Blue Race, posting the top three individual finishes en route to a score of 43, including Chris Derrick's first-place time of 23:16.9. Ohio State was the top-finishing Big Ten squad in the race, taking 13th with a score of 400.
On the women's side, Buscomb led the Boilermakers' to their 31st-place showing of 38 teams as they accumulated 727 team points. Her time gives her another spot on Purdue's all-time top-10 for 6K, claiming sixth place in addition to the school record for the distance. Junior Stephanie Bonk was the second Boilermaker across the line, posting a time of 21:39.6, while classmate Kara Conflenti posted a time of 22:14.7. Senior Jennifer Hall turned in her second straight scoring performance, finishing fourth on the squad in 22:30.2, and sophomore Kelly McCurdy notched the No. 5 time in 23:18.2.
Third-ranked Florida State captured the women's Blue Race crown, totaling 115 points, while UTEP's Risper Kimaiyo captured individual championship honors with her time of 20:03.4.
The Boilermakers gear up for the Big Ten Championships their next time out, returning to Madison, Wis., where the Badgers will host their first conference championship meet on Thomas Zimmer Championship Cross Country Course.