T&F Has Historic Finish at B1Gs

May 16, 2016 Could be a BIG day for Purdue Track, and it's starting off right with the women's 4x100 taking the B1G title! https://t.co/JXVWxoM8uz

May 16, 2016

Could be a BIG day for Purdue Track, and it's starting off right with the women's 4x100 taking the B1G title! https://t.co/JXVWxoM8uz

-- Purdue Athletics (@PurdueSports) May 15, 2016

Final Results

LINCOLN, Neb. -
The men's team had its highest finish since 2003, while the women's team had its second highest finish since 2002 at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships, hosted by the University of Nebraska. The men broke three school records on the day, while the women added three more program standards and a gold medal in the 4x100-meter relay to help both teams finish with 87 points. Two Olympic standards were also hit by Boilermakers over the weekend.

The men entered the final event of the day, the 4x400-meter relay, tied for third with 81 points. The team of Nicholas Parks, Obokhare Ikpefan, Kendal Frederick and Shawndail McLaren knew the scenario: win and have Michigan finish eighth or lower, Purdue would finish second; finish ahead Iowa, but not win, Purdue would finish third; finish behind Iowa, Purdue would finish fourth.

The men went all out. Parks had a big first leg, after already breaking the 400m school record earlier in the day, which kept in the top three in the race, practically even with the leaders. Ikpefan took the stick, after already having broken the school record in the 400-meter hurdles earlier Sunday, and held the team's position. Frederick used a big kick on the back stretch to momentarily give Purdue the lead, and then stuck with the top two other teams. Then it was McLaren's turn to bring it home. The freshman, who had PRed in the 400m dash to finish sixth prior to the 4x4, went all out, making an aggressive move with 250 meters to go which again gave Purdue a slight lead. McLaren then hung with Nebraska and Minnesota down the stretch and came across the line with a team-time of 3:04.75. That time shattered the previous school record by 3.03 seconds. It took a new Big Ten record and a time 0.01 of a second off the previous Big Ten record to finish ahead of the Boilermakers, who took third in the race. More importantly, McLaren kept Iowa behind him down the stretch, as the Hawkeyes finished right behind Purdue to take fourth, meaning Purdue would finish third overall for the meet with 87 points and Iowa would be fourth with 86.

The men's 4x400m relay makes Purdue the ninth fastest school in the country this year.

Check out some of the highlights from today! Oh, HAPPINESS! #BoilerUp https://t.co/YgCNZMkbut

- PurdueTrack&Field (@PurdueTrackXC) May 16, 2016

The women's 4x400m relay had less riding on it, as it was all but established that the Boilermakers would finish fourth as a team. Aarin Jones ran the lead leg, before handing off to Carmiesha Cox. Cox, who had already run the 100m finals, 200m finals and a leg for the gold medal 4x100m relay team on the day, did a nice job to keep the Boilermakers in the top three, before handing off to Symone Black. The sophomore, who had already set the school record in the 400m hurdles earlier in the day, held the teams spot and got the baton to Brionna Thomas for the final leg. Thomas was in her second race of the day after smashing the 400m school record earlier, and brought Purdue across the line with a time of 3:32.05, which is the second-fastest time in program history behind that same team's school record. The Boilermakers earned the bronze medal and it took two times that broke the previous Big Ten record to beat Purdue.

Five different 400m records were broken by the Boilermakers on Sunday, including the men's 4x400m relay. Ikpefan finished runner-up in the men's 400m hurdles with a time of 50.07 seconds. His time broke Andre' Peart's school record of 50.54 seconds and ranks eighth in the country and sixth in the NCAA East Region this season.

Black took down her own 400m hurdles record by 0.73 of a second on the women's side with a time of 56.03 seconds to finish runner-up. Black's time also broke the previous Big Ten record of 56.40 seconds. Her time ranks ninth in the country and fifth in the region.

Parks took down a 54-year old school record in the men's 400m dash. He ran a time of 45.80 seconds to break Dave Mills' record of 46.07 seconds from 1962. Parks finished fifth in the race to earn four points. His time ranks 21st in the country and 13th in the region.

Thomas destroyed the women's 400m school record. She ran a time of 52.49 seconds to break Cestie Rhule's school record of 53.19 seconds that had stood since 1987. Thomas finished third in the race with a time that ranks 26th in the country and 15th in the region.

Jessica Harter took down her own pole vault school record Sunday. Harter, a two-time Big Ten medalist, cleared 4.26m (13-11.75) on her second attempt. The only other bar she had misses at was 4.21m (13-9.75), which was her previous school record. Harter finished third to earn her third Big Ten medal and cleared the same height as the runner-up. Harter's clearance ranks 21st in the country and 11th in the region.

Chukwuebuka Enekwechi took the silver medal in the shot put Sunday. The senior opened with a throw of 19.85m (65-1.50), which gave him the lead all the way to the final throw. He had four throws over 19.60m (64-3.75) and ended up taking the silver medal to earn eight more points. Enekwechi wraps up the meet scoring 18 points after his hammer throw title Friday afternoon. For his career, the Laurelton, New York, native scored 109 points at Big Ten Championship meets while only entering two events per championship. Enekwechi averaged 13.6 points per championship and 6.8 points per event for his career, which point-wise is better than a bronze medal per event for his career.

Matthew McClintock also wrapped up his Big Ten Championships career Sunday. He ran the 5,000-meter race and finished runner-up for his second silver medal of the championships. The eight points scored gave him 51 for his career, despite missing this year's indoor championships with an injury.

Anaquan Peterson had a huge day in the men's triple jump. The junior entered finals with a best mark of 15.81m (51-10.50). He challenged the leader on his fifth attempt when he leapt a personal best of 16.24m (53-3.50). That mark was just three centimeters (one inch) shy of the leader. Peterson's mark ranks third in program history and is the best by a Boilermaker since 2000. Nationally, Peterson's leap is seventh and regionally he is fifth. Peterson finished with the silver medal to earn eight points. For the championships, he scored 12 points.

Micaela Hazlewood capped a good meet in the throws. The sophomore had three throws over 50 meters (164-1) and saved her best for last, as she hit 53.26m (174-9) on her final attempt. That throw moved her up from fifth to fourth, where she earned five points for the women. Hazlewood's throw was a personal record and second in program history, just one foot, one inch shy of Astin Steward's record from 2007. Her mark ranks 39th in the country and 17th in the region.

Cox had a big day for the Boilermakers with finals appearances in the 100m, 200m, 4x100m and the aforementioned 4x400m relay. In the 100m, Cox ran a time of 11.58 seconds to finish fourth and earn five points. In the 200m, she ran the second-fastest time in program history - behind only her school record and Olympic standard time from Saturday - crossing the line in 23.26 seconds to again finish fourth. Cox was the second leg in the 4x100m relay gold medal race.

The women's 4x100m relay claimed Purdue's lone gold Sunday and ran away from the field in doing so. Autumn Heath ran the lead leg and immediately got Purdue out to the lead. She handed to Cox, who maintained a narrow lead, before handing to Savannah Roberson. Roberson kept Purdue out front, before handing to Savannah Carson. Carson immediately pulled away from the field and never looked back, crossing the line in 43.91 seconds. The time is that team's second fastest of the season, behind only their school record which was set at the Texas Relays.

Janae' Moffitt took the silver medal in the women's high jump in her inaugural Big Ten Outdoor Championships. The freshman cleared a personal best 1.82m (5-11.50), a bar that is tied for the fourth-best in program history and the best at Purdue since 2011. Moffitt had just one miss prior to 1.82m (5-11.50), as she battled nerves on her opening attempt at 1.71m (5-7.25). She then settled in and was clean through her next three jumps, before one miss at 1.82m (5-11.50). Moffitt cleared the same height as the champion, Reka Czuth of Nebraska, but Czuth didn't have a miss prior the final bar.

Moffitt ends her freshman Big Ten Championships with 18 points, as she earned a gold medal indoors before the silver Sunday. She will move onto regionals, as her clearance ranks 13th in the country and seventh in the region.

Malcolm Dotson scored in the 100m and 200m dashes. He started with the 100m finals, where he ran a time of 10.75 seconds into a strong headwind of 3.2 meters per second. His time earned him a fifth-place finish. In the 200m, Dotson crossed the finish line in 21.34 seconds into a headwind of 1.6 meters per second. He finished fourth in the event to total nine points individually on the day. Dotson also ran a leg of the men's 4x100m relay, with Gerald McGee, Kyle Webb and Keanu Pennerman. That team earned the bronze medal with a time of 40.03 seconds, which will qualify them for regionals.

Other scorers Sunday included Katie Hoevet, Tate Schienbein, McLaren, Kiara McIntosh, Roberson, Heath, Shantyra Delaney and Luke Lewis. Hoevet scored in the 1,500m and the 5k. The senior from Ann Arbor, Michigan, finished fourth in the 1,500-meter run with a time of 4:22.70 to earn five points. She was back in action an hour and a half later with the 5k and finished eighth with a time of 16:49.07. Schienbein was eighth in the men's 5k with a time of 14:18.77 to earn a point. McLaren ran a PR time of 46.85 seconds to finish sixth in his first career outdoor Big Ten Championships.

McIntosh finished fifth in the women's 800m run. The sophomore ran a time of 2:08.07 to earn four points. Roberson and Heath were part of the four-Boilermaker 100m dash finals. Roberson finished seventh to score two points, while Heath was eighth to score one. Delaney took eighth in the women's 100m hurdles to earn a point for the women. Lewis scored in the men's shot put, after qualifying for finals the second year in a row. The sophomore finished eighth with a throw of 17.71m (58-1.25) to score his first Big Ten point.

On top of all the large performances from a Big Ten and regionals standpoint, two Boilermakers hit Olympic qualifying standards. Cox hit the women's 200m dash standard of 23.30 seconds Saturday with her time of 23.16 seconds. Black hit the 400m hurdles standard of 56.95 seconds with her time of 56.03.

The Boilermakers will now wait for official regional entries, which will be announced later in the week. Purdue looks to qualify a large group to head to the NCAA East Preliminary Rounds in two weeks.