SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The Purdue track and field teams wrapped up the Meyo Invitational on Saturday afternoon. The Boilermakers broke another school record and added several top 10s in program history on the meet's final day.
"I thought we responded well to the magnitude of the competition this weekend," head coach Lonnie Greene said. "We're coming into form at the right time. At the end of the day when I look at our performances, from the quarter milers and Symone Black, from Devynne Charlton, Savannah Carson, Carmiesha Cox, Katie Hoevet, the throwers, Chuk Enekwechi, and all across the board, as I don't want to leave anybody out, I can't say enough about them. The kids competed exceedingly well. They competed like Boilermakers - strong men and women. We are competing Boilermaker Strong."
The women's 4x400-meter relay team kept the meet exciting for Purdue to the very end. The group of Taylor Dunlap, Camiesha Cox, Symone Black and Aarin Jones were in the fifth and final heat of the relay finals. Dunlap opened up with a split close to 55 seconds, while Cox followed it up by running a sub-54 second leg. Black came around in close to 54 and Jones brought it home with a split in the 54-second range. The team broke the school record, though finished second in the heat to Notre Dame's new meet record time of 3:37.20, after finishing with a time of 3:38.21. That time broke their own previous school record by exactly half a second set on the same track two weeks ago. The time ranks 21st in the country and third in the Big Ten.
Black also had a great day in the 400m dash. The freshman ran a personal best with a time of 54.29 seconds to win her heat and have the fourth fastest time overall. Her time was the second-best of collegians in the event. Black's time also ranks second in Purdue school history, just 0.06 of a second behind school record holder Jones. Her time is the fastest by a Purdue woman this season and ranks 36th in the country and seventh in the Big Ten. Jones finished ninth with a time of 54.65 seconds.
Kiara McIntosh ran a huge PR in the 800m run Saturday. McIntosh, a sophomore, finished 11th with a time of 2:08.68. That time ranks seventh in school history. Katie Hoevet ran the 3,000-meter run and had a PR of more than 20 seconds. She finished eighth overall with a time of 9:35.71. That time ranks seventh in school history. Hope Schmelzle was right behind her with a time that ranks just outside the top 10. Schmelzle also had a huge PR, more than 27 seconds, as she took 13th with a time of 9:40.17. Sharise Lund also had PR in a distance event Saturday, as she ran a 4:58.11 in the mile. Laura Maibuecher PRed in the 5k, as she ran a 17:19.37.
Savannah Carson competed in the 60m dash finals after qualifying through the prelims and semis on Friday. Carson ran a time of 7.46 seconds to take fifth overall. Jacqueline Williams and Jessica Harter had solid efforts in the pole vault. Both cleared 3.91m (12-10.00). Williams took eighth, while Harter's indoor PR took ninth. Cierra Brown had a season best in the triple jump. She utilized her final attempt to leap 12.71m (41-8.50) and take fourth overall, third among collegians.
On the men's side, Obokhare Ikpefan PRed in the 400m with a time just outside the top 10 in school history. Ikpefan ran a time of 47.76 seconds. Byron Ferrell took third in the pole vault after clearing 4.95m (16-3.00).
Anaquan Peterson took fifth in the triple jump, though it was Demetrius Carr who had the career day. Carr had a 40cm PR after leaping 14.88m (48-9.75) on his first attempt. He finished eighth overall. Chukwuebuka Enekwechi had a season best in the shot put. The junior threw a distance of 19.22m (63-00.75) to take second. His mark ranks 13th in the country. Luke Lewis had a huge PR in the shot put and finished seventh overall. Lewis put the shot 17.80m (58-4.75) to better his previous PR by more than 14 inches. Jordan Roos finished eighth with a mark of 17.78m (58-4.00).
"We are very much on schedule to prepare for the back end, the championship end of the season," Greene said. "We start our championship cycle on Monday. Our kids are running like this and we haven't even backed off the intensity yet. Our volume is still very high. Now, the question is how much better are we going to get when we freshen them up? That's what excites us. At the end of the day, we competed well. Kudos to my staff. Coaches McBride, Elliott, Goodman, Huffins and Kent. We are doing exactly what we are capable of doing. Out key is to get better every weekend, and we have been doing that."
The Boilermakers return to action next weekend, as they host the two-day Fred Wilt Invitational. The meet is scheduled to start on Friday afternoon.