Feb. 27, 2011
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Purdue men's track and field team turned in a 10th-place effort with 26 team points at the 2011 Big Ten Indoor Championships, hosted by the University of Illinois at the U of I Armory over the weekend. Senior Shane Crawford and sophomore Geoff Davis highlighted the championships for the Boilermakers with matching second-place finishes in their respective events.
Davis had Purdue's most impressive performance of the championships, clearing a new personal record en route to the silver medal in the high jump. Davis and Indiana junior Derek Drouin put on an amazing performance going bar-for-bar through five heights, all on their first attempts. Both came in at 2.08 meters (6-09.75), easily jumping over their first two bars, and then Drouin cleared 2.14 meters (7-00.25) on his first try, allowing Davis to pass and move on to 2.17 meters (7-01.50). Both competitors notched 2.17 and 2.20 meters (7-02.50) on their first attempts, and then Drouin put the pressure on Davis as he soared over 2.23 meters (7-03.75) on his first try, forcing Davis to go after a career-best height. The Boilermaker sophomore missed on his first two attempts, but kept the competition going with his third attempt, clearing the bar and posting the second-best indoor mark in Purdue's history. Drouin closed out a perfect day, tying his own Big Ten Championship record and locking up the gold medal with a 2.26-meter (7-05.00) clearance, while Davis settled for the silver, but not before ensuring himself a trip to the 2011 NCAA Championships, scheduled for March 11 at Texas A&M University.
Crawford came up just shy of back-to-back Big Ten 60-meter dash titles, taking second place to Indiana's Kind Butler on Sunday. Crawford's time of 6.71 seconds was just 0.01 off of Kind, while Illinois' standout Andrew Riley was third in 6.72 seconds. Fellow senior Jacob Palmer came up with the Boilermakers' other three points on Sunday, taking sixth in the 800-meter run in 1:51.96.
Minnesota captured the team title for the third-straight season, scoring 117.33 points, while Indiana finished second with 104.5. Wisconsin, Iowa and Ohio State rounded out the top five with 96, 88 and 86 points, respectively.
A select group of Boilermakers may continue their season next weekend at one of several last chance meets, looking to qualify for the 2011 NCAA Indoor Championships. More information on the last chance meets and national qualification will be available later this week at PurdueSports.com.