June 6, 2011
Complete NCAA Outdoor Championship Schedule
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue men's and women's track and field teams head to Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa this week for the 2011 NCAA Outdoor Championships, hosted by the Bulldogs at Drake Stadium Wednesday through Saturday, June 8-11. The Boilermakers have six qualifiers set to compete, comprised of four on the women's side and two on the men's, all set to do battle in the field events.
The Boilermaker quartet of seniors Stacey Wannemacher and Emily Breslin and juniors Leah Eber and Terri Anderson look to put the Purdue women on the board at the NCAA Outdoor Championships for the 21st time in school history and start a new streak of scoring years after a three-year stretch was broken in 2010. Purdue's top team finish came in 1988, when the Boilermakers finished 12th overall with 18.33 points. Wannemacher is one of 26 women in school history to earn individual outdoor All-America honors and she and her three teammates look to add to that list and the three NCAA Champions in school history as well. Purdue last won an individual NCAA crown in 2007, when Lindsey Blaine captured the national championship in the javelin. The Boilermaker's other two NCAA Championships came from Serene Ross in the javelin in 2002, and Corissa Yasen's heptathlon championship in 1996.
Heading to her fourth career NCAA Outdoor Championship meet, Wannemacher looks to repeat All-America status in the women's shot put and chase a national title. After advancing to the national meet in the shot put as a freshman and sophomore, Wannemacher earned her first spot on the NCAA podium at the 2009 outdoor championships with a fourth-place effort in the shot put at 16.53 meters (54-02.75), then a school record. She followed with indoor All-America honors in 2010, but took a redshirt during the outdoor campaign in order to have a full indoor and outdoor season as a senior. She earned the silver medal at the 2011 Big Ten Outdoor Championships and went on to shatter her own school record at the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds, finishing third with a toss of 16.99 meters (55-09.00). The mark leaves Wannemacher tied for the No. 13 seed heading to the national meet, having beaten a trio of higher national seeds in Bloomington, Ind. at the East Prelims. Arizona's Julie LaBonte holds the nation's top throw this season, marking 18.21 meters (59-09.00) at the Pac-10 Championships, and has the only throw in the country over 18 meters.
Breslin is the only other Boilermaker woman with NCAA Outdoor Championship experience, qualifying for the high jump last season as well. She is the highest seeded of Purdue's six entries, owning the No. 10 mark in the nation at 1.82 meters (5-11.50), which she cleared at the Big Ten Championships to claim the silver medal and match the No. 4 mark in Purdue's outdoor history. A four-time Big Ten Championship medalist, Breslin looks to become the fifth outdoor All-American in Purdue history in the high jump, following Yasen, who earned four straight from 1993-96, two-time All-American Carri Long, Maggie Woods and Tia Hensler. The nation's No. 1 high jump mark belongs to Arizona's Brigetta Barrett, who cleared 1.93 meters (6-04.00) at the Pac-10 Championships and leads the pack by seven centimeters (2.75").
Both Eber and Anderson are set for their first career appearance at the national level as Eber qualified in the long jump, while Anderson will compete in the discus. Eber won both the Big Ten Indoor and Outdoor Championships in 2011, and has the No. 18 mark in the nation and No. 2 jump in Purdue's outdoor history at 6.30 meters (20-08.00). She aims to become just the second outdoor All-American in the long jump in Purdue's history, chasing Boilermaker record holder Leah Kincaid. Like Eber, Anderson holds the No. 2 mark all-time at Purdue, throwing a career-best 52.99 meters (173-10) last season, and marking just short in 2011 at 52.92 meters (173-09). Her top mark is good for the No. 20 throw in the NCAA field as she looks to become the third discus All-American in Purdue's history along with record holder Astin Steward and Sami Jo Williamson. The national leader in the long jump is Nebraska's Mara Griva at a wind-aided 6.70 meters (21-11.75), while Arizona State's Anna Jemini has a throw of 60.54 meters (198-07) in the discus.
On the men's side, sophomores Geoff Davis and Jakob Engel aim to put the Boilermakers in the scoring column for the 39th time in school history, dating to 1922. The Purdue men last scored at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in 2009, tying for 52nd with four points, while the top team showing in school history came in 1944, where the Boilermakers tied for fifth with 20 points. Purdue has 27 individual men's All-Americans on its all-time roster, with Davis and Engel looking to become No. 28 and 29. The Boilermakers have three NCAA Outdoor Champions in their history as Orval Martin too the 880-yard run championship in 1930, Duane Purvis won the javelin in 1933, and Larry Burton claimed the last national championship by a Boilermaker male, winning the 200-yard dash in 1972.
Davis heads to his second consecutive NCAA Outdoor Championship, and his fourth national championship meet overall as he's qualified for the indoor meet in each of the last two seasons as well. Despite being tied for the No. 10 mark in the nation at 2.21 meters (7-03.00), Davis intends to chase a NCAA Championship and break the Purdue outdoor high jump record of 2.25 meters (7-04.50) set by Dave Glassburn in 1987. After earning All-America honors indoors, tying for fourth place at 2.20 meters (7-02.50), Davis looks to become Purdue's fifth outdoor All-American in the high jump, following Noel Ruebel in 1977, Shaun Guice in 2000, 2001 and 2004, Ryan Fitzpatric in 2004 and Adetayo Adesanya in 2009. Kansas State's Erik Kynard has the top mark in the country this season, clearing 2.31 meters (7-07.00) at the Drake Relays.
Engel qualified for his first NCAA Championship event this season, hurling a half-meter personal record at the NCAA East Preliminary Round to advance to nationals. His mark of 18.18 meters (59-07.75) was good for seventh at the meet and is the No. 19 mark heading to Des Moines. A Purdue shot putter has advanced to nationals in three of the last four seasons as Engel aims to become the third Boilermaker to earn shot put All-America status outdoors. Jim Jones earned All-America in 1996, and school record holder Nedzad Mulabegovic was an outdoor All-American in 2003. Mason Finley of Kansas owns the No. 1 mark in the nation this season, throwing 19.84 meters (65-01.75) at the Kansas Relays.
With the new change in the USTFCCCA All-America qualifications, the top eight finishers in each event will be named First-Team All-America, while individuals nine-to-16 are tabbed Second-Team All-American. The remainder of the field who participates at nationals will be listed as Honorable Mention All-America.
The Boilermakers get things started on Wednesday as Anderson will throw the discus at 3 p.m. (CT), and Leah Eber is set to long jump at 5:30 p.m. (CT). Flash Results will provide live results, including attempt-by-attempt results for the field events, throughout the championships.