Results
DES MOINES, Iowa -Â With still a full day of competition left, the Boilermakers broke a pair of school records at the Drake Relays. The men's 4x1,600-meter relay and the women's 4x400m relay ran the best times in program history.
The men's team of Dillon Hinen, Kevin Handshoe, Tate Schienbein and Tyler Wynn were first to set a new record. The 6,400m relay team ran a time of 16:40.58 to finish seventh.
The women's 4x400m relay was next, and the group shattered the previous Purdue record. Honorable Mention at the NCAA Outdoor Championships a year ago, Taylor Morrison, Kari Shoolbraid, Aarin Jones and BreAnna Smith held the school record with a time of 3:34.61. Despite three of those four graduating, leaving just now-junior Jones left, the team got better. Freshmen Brionna Thomas and Symone Black and sophomore Carmiesha Cox teamed with Jones to run a time of 3:33.50 and take second in the prelims on Friday. That time ranks 11th in the country and the best in the Big Ten. The group will race Saturday in the finals.
Devynne Charlton and Cox also qualified for finals individually. Charlton took sixth in the 100m hurdles and second in her heat with a time of 13.74 seconds, into a wind of 1.3 meters per second. She will be in the finals alongside four other Big Ten competitors. Cox qualified for the 100m finals. She ran a time of 11.80 seconds to finished eighth overall and third in her heat. She is one of four Big Ten sprinters to qualify for Saturday's final.
The women's 4x100m relay team qualified for Saturday's final. Savannah Carson, Cox, Charlton and Autumn Heath just missed their school record after finishing third in the prelim with a time of 44.86. That time won the heat by nearly a second. Vanessa McLeod had her best day since her freshman year in the 800m. McLeod ran a time of 2:06.38 to finish fifth overall. That mark is more than a second and a half better than her previous best this season.
Freshman Micaela Hazelwood continues to climb up the all-time list in Purdue history in the discus. She PRed with a throw of 50.67m (166-3) to move into sixth all-time in school history. Her mark is the best for a Purdue woman since 2010 when Terri Anderson threw the second-best mark in school history, 52.99m (173-10). Hazelwood finished third in the competition.
On the men's side, Tyler Askew continued to be fairly consistent in the long jump. The senior took fourth with a distance of 7.39m (24-3.00). He had three jumps of at least 23 feet, five inches on the day.
A pair of Purdue alums was in action and both were winners. Recently graduated shot putter Dani Bunch threw 17.68m (58-0.25), which is nearly a foot improvement on what her best was during her time at Purdue, though not her best this season. Bunch is working towards the 2016 Olympic Games. Kara (Patterson) Winger was also in action and won the javelin. The 2009 graduated and multi-Olympian threw 59.07m (193-09) to win by more than 25 feet.
The Boilermakers are back in action on Saturday with several more relays and finals. Live results can be found on PurdueSports.com, as well as DrakeRelays.org.
Â