WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Boilermakers open their home season on Saturday with the Gene Edmonds Invitational. The track and field teams welcome Western Kentucky, Northern Illinois, Ole Miss, IUPUI and Franklin College to the event. The meet is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. ET with the field events. Track events are slated to begin at 2 p.m.
The Gene Edmonds Invitational is named after the former Purdue throws coach and Hall of Fame official. The event is in its 20th-consecutive year, though the meet changed last season from the Gene Edmonds Cup to the Gene Edmonds Invitational. The cup ran for 18 years as a dual between Purdue and Indiana State, with the Boilermakers winning the trophy all 18 years. Last season was the first since the cup was retired.
Edmonds coached the Purdue throwers for eight years during the 1990s and mentored several elite student-athletes, including National Champion Toyinda Smith. Edmonds also has been an official from youth to Olympic level and was inducted into the USATF National Officials Hall of Fame on Dec. 6. 2013.
On the men's side, the 14th-ranked Boilermakers will be headlined by the throwers. National weight throw leader Chukwuebuka Enekwechi is scheduled to compete at approximately 1:15 p.m. Already the school record holder, he will continue to chase the NCAA Division I record, which is held by Wisconsin's Michael Lihrman with a mark of 24.27m (79-7.50). Enekwechi's personal record is 23.62m (77-6.00) from last season, and he threw 23.01m (75-6.00) at the season-opening meet in December.
Enekwechi will chase the school record in the shot put. The junior is second in program history with an indoor PR of 19.24m (63-1.50), which is two feet, three and a half inches shy of the Purdue standard.
The men will have several individuals making their home debut. Three of Purdue's entries in the 200m dash are freshmen, as are two in the 40m, 600m and the mile. Among them is Justin Veteto, who is scheduled to compete in the 200m and 400m dashes, as well as the 60m hurdles and 4x400m relay.
On the women's side, the Boilermakers enter the season much healthier than a year ago. Cierra Brown looks to be among the leaders, as the triple jump school record holder will compete in the 60m dash and the 60m hurdles. Talented sophomores Savannah Carson and Carmiesha Cox look to be back to full strength after both missed time a year ago with injuries. Both are scheduled to compete in the 60m and 200m dashes, while Carson will compete in the long jump and Cox in the 4x400m relay. Junior Vanessa McLeod is also back after missing the entire indoor season a year ago. The 800m school record holder and 2013 Big Ten Indoor champion in the event will run the 600m and the 4x400m relay.
The women also have a large group of talented freshmen that will make their Lambert Fieldhouse debut. Savannah Roberson is scheduled to run in the 60m and 200m dashes, as well as the 4x4. The 400m dash is loaded with newcomers, including Symone Black, Autumn Heath, Megan Paul and Brionna Thomas. Black will also run the 60m hurdles. Purdue has a handful of talented freshmen throwers as well, with Micaela Hazelwood and Elizabeth Iversen in the shot put and weight throw, and Kayla Zink in the weight.
A full meet schedule can be found at the top of the page.
Fans that can't make the meet can follow along online on the teams' official twitter feed, @PurdueTrackXC, and in a live, interactive blog, which will be posted on PurdueSports.com prior to the start of the meet. A live results link will also be posted as it becomes available. Final results and a recap will be posted to PurdueSports.com following the meet's completion.