May 15, 2011
IOWA CITY, Iowa - The Purdue men's and women's track and field teams wrapped up competition at the 2011 Big Ten Outdoor Championships, hosted by the University of Iowa at Francis X. Cretzmeyer Track on Sunday, as the men finished eighth with 54 points, while the women were ninth with 56 points. Senior Shane Crawford highlighted the final day of competition, winning a Big Ten Championship in the men's 100-meter dash with a record-setting time.
With six sprinters within 0.06 seconds of each other, the men's 100-meter dash was one of the closest races of the day. Crawford stared up at the board waiting for the official results and promptly celebrated as his facility-tying and Purdue record-setting mark of 10.18 seconds at a wind-legal 1.3 mph. The matches the Cretzmeyer Track record set by Wisconsin's Michael Bennett in 2000, and breaks the previous Purdue record of 10.30 seconds shared by Alvin McNair from 1984 and Kenneth Baxter in 2005. In addition, Crawford moves all the way up to 10th in NCAA Division I this season, jumping 30 spots on the national list.
"It was a double victory for me," said Crawford. "After four years of college competition I was able to break my personal record in the 100 and get that Big Ten Championship. I couldn't be happier."
The Purdue men picked up another conference medal in the men's shot put as senior Bill Hardcastle finished third with a mark of 17.90 meters (58-08.75). After grabbing silver in yesterday's discus, Hardcastle came up with his top throw of the day on his third and final attempt of the preliminaries and picked up six team points for the Old Gold and Black. Classmates Josh Hembrough and Jacob Palmer chipped in five more points on the track for the Boilermakers as Hembrough finished sixth in the men's 110-meter hurdles in a season-best 14.15 seconds, while Palmer duplicated yesterday's time of 1:49.76 in the men's 800 to take seventh place and two team points.
On the women's side, senior Emily Breslin claimed her third career Big Ten silver medal in the women's high jump, clearing a personal record and tying for the top mark, but surrendering the top spot on misses. Breslin moved into a tie for the fourth-best outdoor mark in school history, marking 1.82 meters (5-11.50) to jump to 13th in NCAA Division I with the mark this season.
Junior Leah Eber added four more team points to her weekend total, taking fifth place in the women's triple jump with an outdoor career-best mark of 12.28 meters (40-03.50). Classmate Terri Anderson chipped in two more in the women's discus, taking seventh place with a mark of 50.38 meters (165-03).
On the track, freshman Ciana Tabb scored an eighth-place finish in the women's 100-meter hurdles, breaking her personal record for the second straight day with a time of 13.91 seconds. Sophomore Kari Shoolbraid followed suit in the women's 800-meter run, running a career-best time of 2:09.88 to finish eighth and score her first career Big Ten Outdoor team point.
The Boilermaker relays were solid on both sides as the Purdue women were seventh in the 4x100-meter relay and seventh in the 4x400-meter relay, while the Boilermaker men took seventh in the 4x100-meter relay. Tabb, Eber, senior Janan Graham and junior Elise Glass teamed for a time of 46.54 in the 4x100, while Graham followed up with senior NaTasha Blair and freshmen Ebony Woodard and Taylor Morrison in the 4x400 for a time of 3:41.90. Crawford and Hembrough joined forces with fellow senior Chris Kirtz and freshman Seth Virgil to clock a time of 41.42 in the men's 4x100.
Ohio State claimed its second Big Ten women's team title of the year, following it's indoor championship with a 135-point outdoor championship showing, while Iowa edged out Minnesota for the men's team total with 125.5 team points.
The Boilermakers continue the postseason in two weeks, heading down to Big Ten archrival Indiana for the NCAA Championship East Preliminary Rounds. Official word of the Boilermakers' NCAA qualifiers will be available in the next week.
TEAM SCORES
Men (Final)
1. Iowa - 125.5
2. Minnesota - 123
3. Ohio State - 109
4. Indiana - 94.5
5. Wisconsin - 90
6. Penn State - 74
7. Illinois - 62
8. Purdue - 54
9. Michigan - 52.5
10. Michigan State - 34.5
Women (Final)
1. Ohio State - 135
2. Penn State - 122
3. Indiana - 96
4. Illinois - 90
5. Michigan State - 74.5
6. Wisconsin - 74
7. Minnesota - 63.5
8. Iowa - 59
9. Purdue - 56
10. Michigan - 49