March 23, 2012
STARKVILLE, Miss. - The Big Ten and SEC split victories on Friday at the SEC/Big Ten Challenge meet hosted by Mississippi State. The Big Ten men took the title with 400.5 points compared to the SEC's 314.5. The SEC women won, 390-323.
On the women's side, Purdue freshman Kaitlyn Brace had a great debut. She won the women's javelin with a throw of 43.76m (143-07.00). The distance is a new meet and facility record. Ciana Tabb took seventh in the 100m dash with a time of 12.33 seconds. Taylor Morrison was the top finisher for the Boilermakers in the 200m dash. She finished in ninth with a time of 25.14 seconds. Morrison was also the top Purdue finisher in the 400m dash, just ahead of teammates Ebony Woodard and Elise Glass. Morrison took 10th with a time of 57.23 seconds while Woodard was 11th with a 57.85 and Glass 12th with a time or 57.87. Kari Shoolbraid finished fourth in the women's 800m run. She ran a time of 2:10.93. That time was faster than any run at the meet prior to this year.
Kelly McCurdy finished fifth in the women's 1500m run. The junior ran a time of 4:29.24 which was faster than any time run in the event in previous years. Linsey Daluga took eighth in the 3000m run. She finished the race in 10:21.03. Morgan Monroe had a top five finish in the 400m hurdles. She finished fifth with a time of 1:02.69. In the women's steeplechase, Stephanie Bonk finished fourth. The senior ran a time of 10:49.68. Liberty Slinden was the top Purdue finisher in the shot put. The sophomore threw a mark of 14.12m (46-04.00) which was good for sixth. Slinden was also the Boilermakers' best finisher in the discus. She threw a distance of 46.35m (152-00.75) which put her in sixth. Emily Leckenby was tops for the Old Gold and Black in the hammer throw. The senior threw 50.12m (164-05.25).
On the men's side, Mario Cosey ran a 10.88 in the 100m dash. That time put him in 10th place for the event. In the 200m, he finished ninth with a time of 21.45. Rob McNair was the Boilermakers' top finisher in the 400m dash. The sophomore finished with a time of 48.79 seconds which put him in ninth place. Cale Allen took second in the men's 3000m run. The junior finished with a time of 8:14.13 which broke the previous meet record by more than 17 seconds. Zack Saunders and Byron Ferrell both cleared 4.75m (15-07.00) in the pole vault. Saunders finished in fourth while Ferrell took sixth. Jakob Engel finished sixth in the shot put. The junior threw 16.46m (54-00.00).
The Boilermakers return home this weekend as they host the Mike Poehlein Invitational Friday and Saturday. Friday's events are scheduled to start at 3 p.m. while Saturday will begin at 10 a.m.