March 7, 2011
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue men's and women's track and field teams will send a pair of student-athletes to the NCAA Indoor Championships, hosted this weekend by Texas A&M University at Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium in College Station, Tex. Action begins Friday, March 11, at 10 a.m. with the women's pentathlon.
Boilermaker sophomore Geoff Davis advances to the national indoor meet in the men's high jump for the second straight season, posting the No. 9 mark in NCAA Division I this year. Davis cleared a pair of personal-record heights during the season, marking 2.21 meters (7-03.00) at the Gene Edmonds Cup at Lambert Fieldhouse on Jan. 22, and upping his best to 2.23 meters (7-03.75) at the Big Ten Men's Indoor Championships, hosted by Illinois on Feb. 27. His top mark is the second-highest jump in Purdue's indoor history, following only Shaun Guice's height of 2.26 meters (7-05.00) in 2001, and earned him a runner-up conference finish and Second Team All-Big Ten honors. Davis finished no lower than second in any of his seven competitions this season, winning the event three times.
Following Davis' lead, freshman Dani Bunch becomes the second freshman in as many years to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships for the Old Gold and Black. Bunch is one of just three women in school history to post a mark in the 20-pound weight throw over 20 meters, hurling the No. 3 mark at 20.54 meters (67-04.75). Only school-record holder and 2008 All-American Astin Steward (21.62m/70-11.25) and 1999 NCAA Champion Toyinda Smith (20.95m/68-08.00) have surpassed Bunch's mark on the Boilermakers' record list. Bunch's top mark secured the Big Ten Championship in the event, becoming the second woman in Purdue history to win a conference title in the weight throw, following Smith's back-to-back crowns in 1998 and 1999. She has the No. 10 mark in the country this season heading to the national meet, winning three of her seven indoor competitions this year and finishing second in two others.
Bunch is set to compete on Friday with the weight throw scheduled for 4 p.m. (CT), while Davis will take his shot at All-America status on Saturday at 4:15 p.m. For a more information on the NCAA Indoor Championships, including the full meet schedule and information on College Station and Gilliam Indoor Track Stadium, visit NCAA.com. Click here for a full list of men's and women's entries.