April 15, 2011
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue men's and women's track and field teams had a solid opening day to the Fifth-Annual Dave Rankin Invitational, hosted by the Boilermakers on Friday at Rankin Track & Field. Six Boilermakers hurled season-best marks in the hammer throw to start the meet, including a second-place effort and four career bests.
Senior Stacey Wannemacher had the top mark of the day on the women's side for the Boilermakers, finishing second overall with her best throw of the year at 57.25 meters (187-10). She finished just 37 centimeters behind the event winner, Liz Murphy of Grand Valley State who threw 57.62 meters (189-00), and just under a meter shy of her own personal record of 58.10 meters (190-07). Junior Emily Leckenby was the only other Boilermaker to make the finals on the women's side, coming up ninth with a season-best toss of 49.61 meters (162-09). Sophomores Bre Fife and Meghan Kessler both tossed career bests on the day, marking 48.43 meters (158-11) and 40.98 meters (134-05), respectively.
On the men's side, sophomores Cal Luby and Jakob Engel turned in career-best efforts to take home fourth and fifth place. Luby edged out his top mark with a toss of 53.18 meters (174-06), while Engel surpassed his personal record by more than two meters at 52.81 meters (173-03). Indianapolis's Matt Royer won his second hammer throw title at Purdue in as many tries this season, topping the field with a toss of 59.50 meters (195-02), while Grand Valley State's Andrew Gorley was second at 56.52 meters (185-05).
Action resumes tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. with the men's javelin, while events on the track begin at noon with the women's 10,000-meter run.