March 9, 2012
NAMPA, Idaho - Two Boilermakers competed on Friday in the NCAA Track & Field Indoor Championships on Friday and one of them found her way onto the podium. Leah Eber took home the bronze medal in the women's long jump.
Dani Bunch competed first on Friday for Purdue. The sophomore finished 14th in the weight throw with a toss of 18.84m (61-09.75). Jeneva McCall of Southern Illinois won the gold medal with a throw of 22.90m (75-01.75). Ida Storm of UCLA took the silver medal with a best of 21.48m (70-05.75) while Brittany Smith of Illinois State finished third with a throw of 20.89m (68-06.50).
Eber competed later for Purdue. The senior leapt 6.43m (21-01.25) on her second jump which put her in second place. However, that mark would be topped by one other individual who dropped Eber down to third. Whitney Gipson of Texas Christian University won the gold medal as the senior tied the NCAA record. Gipson jumped 6.91m (22-08.00) on her fifth jump to tie the record set by Elva Goulborne of Auburn in 2002. Chelsea Hayes of Louisiana Tech finished second with a jump of 6.61m (21-08.25).
Bunch and Geoff Davis will compete on Saturday for Purdue. Davis is scheduled in the high jump at 3 p.m. MST while Bunch will be in the shot put at 7 p.m. MST. Live video feed of the events is provided by ESPN.com and the link can be found at PurdueSports.com.