June 11, 2011
DES MOINES, Iowa - Purdue senior Stacey Wannemacher capped her career and a solid team effort at the 2011 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, placing eighth in the women's shot put and scoring a team point for the Boilermakers. Her top throw of 16.76 meters (55-00.00) marks her second career outdoor placewinning performance and third overall in her remarkable collegiate career.
After a solid opening throw of 16.26 meters (53-04.25) in the first flight, Wannemacher tossed her top effort of the day on her second attempt. The mark was good for fourth coming out of the first flight and was seventh heading to the finals. Unable to improve in her final three throws, Wannemacher was bumped two spots, but clung to the final scoring position and an eighth-place showing. Arizona sophomore Julie Labonte took the individual title in the women's shot put, throwing 18.31 meters (60-01.00).
Wannemacher finishes her Boilermaker career as the indoor and outdoor shot put school record holder, tossing a top indoor mark of 16.47 meters (54-00.50) and breaking her own outdoor record with a toss of 16.99 meters (55-09.00) at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds two weeks ago. She earned outdoor All-America honors with a fourth-place finish in 2009, and an indoor All-America award and seventh-place showing in 2010.
The Boilermakers posted scoring performances on both the men's and women's side at this year's national meet as sophomore Geoff Davis's sixth-place effort in the men's high jump earned three points, tying for 54th place, while Wannemacher's point in the shot put landed the women in a tie for 66th place. It marks the 11th time in school history both the men's and women's teams have scored at the national outdoor meet, and the second time under head coach Jack Warner.
Texas A&M took home the women's team title, winning the 4x400-meter relay by 0.15 seconds to collect its third consecutive NCAA crown with 49 team points, and edging out Oregon in the team battle, which finished with 45 points. The men's team championship came down to the 4x400-meter relay as well as
Texas A&M won both the men's and women's NCAA titles as both team competitions came down to the 4x400-meter relays. The Aggie women won the relay by 0.15 seconds to edge out Oregon in the team scores, 49-45, while the Aggie men captured the men's relay title to surpass Florida State and Florida in the team standings, 55-54-53. The team win by the Texas A&M women gave them their third straight NCAA Outdoor Championship.
Official word of All-America awards will be released Monday, with six Boilermaker athletes expected to be honored.