Thursday Results
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -Â Chukwuebuka Enekwechi and Matthew McClintock punched their tickets to Eugene, Oregon, and the NCAA Championships on the first day of the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds. Symone Black and Vanessa McLeod advanced to Friday's quarterfinals in the 400-meter hurdles and 800-meter run, respectively.
Enekwechi opened the day in the hammer throw, which for the first time in region history, featured no finals, meaning each thrower would only get three attempts. The junior Big Ten champion had a circle foul on first attempt, before landing one safely in the middle of the sector on his second attempt. That mark was 65.40m (214-07) and put him in seventh place. Enekwechi would fall back two spots after fouling his final attempt, but advances to the NCAA Championships in the event for the third consecutive year.
McClintock saved the best for last for the Boilermakers with a first-place finish in the 10,000m run. The junior, fresh off a Big Ten title in the 5k and runner-up finish in the 10k, ran a patient race, sitting between third and fifth for most of the race. At the bell lap, McClintock made his aggressive move and ran away from everybody. He finished with a time of 29:47.98, winning by 4.99 seconds. McClintock, a two-time All-American in cross country, will make his first trip to the NCAA Championships in track, indoors or out.
Black was the first Boilermaker on the track Thursday. The freshman 400mH Big Ten champion ran the second-fastest time of her young career with a time of 57.98 seconds to take third in her heat and automatically advance to Friday's quarterfinals. Her time was the 12th-fastest overall of the first round. Black is scheduled to run at 7:30 p.m. ET Friday night. The top three individuals in each heat, plus the next three fastest overall times will advance to the NCAA Championships.
McLeod was in the sixth and final heat of the women's 800m. The junior sat at the back of the pack until the final 200 meters, where she began her kick. There, she was able to work her way up to fourth and grab the top at-large spot into Friday's quarterfinals. McLeod's time of 2:06.26 was her fastest of the season and her best since the 2013 outdoor season. Her time was 17th overall in the first round, and she'll have a chance to advance to Eugene on Friday at 7 p.m. if she can finish in the top three in her heat, or be among the next three fastest times.
Elsewhere, Katie Hoevet just missed advancing to the quarterfinals in the 1,500m run. Hoevet finished seventh in her heat, in an event that the top five automatically advance to the quarters, with a time of 4:24.93, the fourth-fastest of her career. Hoevet's time was 22nd-fastest in the first round, but did not advance because the third heat's five auto qualifiers had times slower than the Purdue junior. She was the second individual outside of qualifying.
Jessica Harter and Jacqueline Williams both competed in the women's pole vault. The two had identical days and tied for 33rd with clearances of 3.93m (12-10.75). Both cleared the bar on their second attempt and just missed attempts at the next height, 4.08m (13-4.50). That height would have been a personal best for Williams and tied Harter's best. Williams' career comes to an end after joining the Boilermakers as a senior in the fall. She put her name in the top five in program history for both indoor and outdoor seasons, and scored for the Boilermakers at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships.
Tyler Askew and Obokhare Ikpefan also competed Thursday. Askew finished 31st in the long jump, while Ikpefan did not finish the 400m hurdles, after pulling up with an apparent injury.
The Boilermakers will be busy again Friday. Purdue has eight individuals competing, including six who have a chance to punch their ticket to Eugene. The full schedule for Purdue is below.
FRIDAY
Noon -- Women's Discus* - Micaela Hazlewood (30) -- second flight, 11th thrower
5:00 -- Women's 100mH -- Shantyra Delaney (47)/Devynne Charlton (7) -- first heat, lane 3/third heat, lane 7
7:00 -- Women's Long Jump* - Savannah Carson (37) -- first flight, seventh jumper
7:00 --Â Women's 800m* -Â Vanessa McLeod
7:30 --Â Women's 400mH* -Â Symone Black
8:50 -- Women's Steeplechase* - Hope Schmelzle (44) -- third heat
9:30 -- Men's Steeplechase* - Tate Schienbein (25) -- second heat
SATURDAY
4:00 -- Women's Triple Jump* - Vania Anane (30) -- second flight, 12th jumper
5:00 -- Men's Shot Put* - Luke Lewis (30)/Chukwuebuka Enekwechi (12) -- second flight, second thrower/fourth flight, 11ththrower
6:00 --Â Women's 4x100m relay* -- Carson, Charlton, Cox, Heath, Thomas, Winfrey (10) -- second heat, lane 7
7:00 -- Men's Triple Jump* - Anaquan Peterson (26) -- second flight, sixth jumper
7:05 --Â Women's 100mH* -Â Devynne Charlton/Shantyra Delaney
9:25 --Â Women's 4x400m Relay* - Black, Cox, Dunlap, Earnheart, Jones, Thomas (10) -- third heat, lane 4
9:45 --Â Men's 4x400m Relay* - Arvia, Frederick, Ikpefan, Parks, Rolle (19) -- third heat, lane 7
* Indicates event is a qualifier for the NCAA Championships in Eugene, Oregon
(number in parenthesis indicates regional seed ranking)
Italicized name indicates individual must first qualify through first round
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