May 28, 2011
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Purdue men's and women's track and field teams wrapped up competition at the 2011 NCAA Outdoor Championship East Preliminary Rounds, hosted by Indiana University at Robert C. Haugh Track Complex. The Boilermakers finished with six national qualifiers as junior Terri Anderson added her name to the list on Saturday, advancing in the women's discus.
Anderson threw in the third of three flights on Saturday, marking just one preliminary throw, but tossing it far enough to make finals at 50.81 meters. She opened with a foul in the finals, but popped a qualifying mark of 52.18 meters (171-02) on her second throw to earn the No. 7 overall mark and earn her first career trip to the NCAA Championships.
Joining Anderson at nationals will be seniors Emily Breslin, Stacey Wannemacher and junior Leah Eber on the women's side and sophomores Jakob Engel and Geoff Davis on the men's side. The event is scheduled for Wednesday through Saturday, June 8-11, at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.
Senior Bill Hardcastle was unable to advance in the men's discus, throwing 51.81 meters (169-11), while classmate Josh Hembrough had a similar fate in the men's 110-meter hurdle quarterfinals, running a time of 14.21 seconds and finishing seventh in his heat. The Boilermakers' women's 4x400-meter relay squad of seniors NaTasha Blair and Janan Graham and freshmen Ebony Woodard and Taylor Morrison ran a time of 3:41.26, good for seventh place in their heat.
A full preview of the Boilermakers' six national qualifiers will be available next week at PurdueSports.com. In addition to the individuals' national rankings will be a full schedule of events and information on live results and webcasts.