May 12, 2011
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue men's and women's track and field teams head to Iowa City, Iowa for the 2011 Big Ten Outdoor Championships, set to be hosted by the University of Iowa Friday through Sunday at Francis X. Cretzmeyer Track. The Boilermakers have several individuals on both the men's and women's sides set to compete for conference championships and improve their standings for the upcoming NCAA Championships.
The Boilermakers have won a combined 151 Big Ten outdoor event championships in program history, comprised of 97 on the men's side and 54 on the women's. Three current members of the Boilermaker track and field teams already have Big Ten crowns to their credit as men's senior Bill Hardcastle owns a trio of conference titles, classmate Josh Hembrough has two Big Ten Championships and women's senior Stacey Wannemacher has one outdoor Big Ten title. All three look to add to their achievements this weekend, in addition to several other teammates looking to win their first outdoor conference championship.
Hardcastle won his first two Big Ten titles in 2008, winning the men's shot put and discus en route to Big Ten Athlete of the Year, Athlete of the Championships and Freshman of the Year honors. He added a second discus championship in 2010, and looks to defend that title and reclaim the top spot in the shot put as well. He heads into the weekend ranked fifth in the Big Ten in the shot put with his season best of 18.14 meters (59-06.25) and ninth in the discus at 52.96 meters (173-09).
Hembrough is a two-time Big Ten Champion in the men's 110-meter hurdles, winning back-to-back championships in 2008 and 2009. He ranks second all-time at Purdue in the event with a career-best time of 13.58, but sits eighth in the conference this season with a top time of 14.25.
An eight-time Big Ten Outdoor Championship placewinner, Wannemacher has piled up 38 team points in her three conference showings to date, and looks to score a bunch more this weekend. Her lone conference title comes in the hammer throw as she took the 2009 title, while she's placed three times in the shot put and discus, including second and third place efforts in the shot. The Purdue record-holder in the shot put has the No. 3 mark in the Big Ten in both the shot put and hammer throw this season, tossing a top mark of 16.21 meters (53-02.25) in the shot and a top throw of 57.25 meters (187-10) in the hammer.
The Boilermaker men have several other entries with a great shot at their first Big Ten Outdoor Championship, including seniors Shane Crawford and Chris Thoman and sophomore Geoff Davis. Crawford is enjoying his first injury-free outdoor season of his Boilermaker career and has made the most of it, blazing to career-best times in the 100- and 200-meter dashes. His top mark of 10.37 seconds in the 100 is good for fifth all-time at Purdue and is just 0.02 seconds shy of the Big Ten lead in the event. Thoman has the No. 3 mark in the Big Ten in the men's pole vault, clearing a career best 5.25 meters (17-02.75) this season. He'll be right in the thick of the conference championship alongside sophomore teammate Zack Saunders and freshman Mitch Erickson. In addition, Thoman and senior women's teammate NaTasha Blair were added to the Boilermakers' team captains this week by head coach Jack Warner.
"I can't say enough about how much Chris and NaTasha have done for this program, not only this year, but over their entire careers," said Warner. "Their leadership abilities have been huge for the progress of this year's team and I think it's great that we can recognize them with this honor."
With the season-ending injury to Indiana's defending champion Derek Drouin, Davis owns the top men's high jump mark in the conference by more than seven centimeters. Davis is just shy of his career best this season, clearing 2.21 meters (7-03.00), which is tied for 10th in the nation and just two centimeters out of fifth place.
On the women's side, senior Emily Breslin and juniors Leah Eber and Terri Anderson highlight the list of Boilermakers chasing their first outdoor conference crown. Breslin is a two-time Big Ten outdoor medalist, taking second in 2009 and third in 2010 in the high jump. She came up just shy of her first career Big Ten Championship at this year's indoor meet, finishing second to Wisconsin's Monika Jakutyte, and is tied for second in this season's outdoor standings with a top mark of 1.79 meters (5-10.50). Eber looks to sweep the 2011 long jump titles, winning the indoor championship with a Purdue record mark of 6.30 meters (20-08.00), and sitting second in the Big Ten outdoors with the same mark. Anderson is fourth on the conference list in the discus, throwing just shy of her career best at 52.92 meters (173-07). She's already finished third and fourth at the conference championships in the event and has a pair of bronze-medal efforts in the shot put as well.
Action begins on Friday at 11 a.m. with the men's pole vault, continuing through the weekend. For more information on the championships, including ticket information, schedules and credentialing, visit Iowa's championship home page.