Thursday Results
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Chukwuebuka Enekwechi opened up the NCAA East Preliminary Round for the Boilermakers on Thursday afternoon by qualifying for his fourth consecutive NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The senior advanced in the hammer throw, where he is a three-time All-American, including first team honors in the event last year.
Enekwechi was in the final flight of the hammer throw and needed just one throw to hit his qualifying mark. He launched a toss of 68.54 meters (224-10) to give him an early lead. The Laurelton, New York, native's two other throws were both better than 222 feet and he wound up with the third-best throw at the meet to advance to Eugene, Oregon, in two weeks. Enekwechi will look to advance in the shot put Saturday afternoon, where he enters with the top mark in the region.
Brionna Thomas broke the 400-meter dash school record for her second race in a row. After running 52.49 seconds at the Big Ten Championships in Lincoln, Nebraska, two weeks ago, the 13th fastest time in the region, the sophomore finished second in her heat with a time of 52.48 seconds. Thomas is the only woman in Purdue history to run an outdoor 400-meter dash in less than 53-seconds, and has now done so two races in a row. Her time was the ninth-fastest of all the prelims and she will compete for a spot in the NCAA Championships on Friday afternoon.
The Boilermakers had a good day in the 400-meter hurdles. Symone Black got things started and made it look easy by winning her heat of the event with a time of 57.01 seconds. She won the heat by 0.77 of a second to earn an automatic bid to Friday's quarterfinals. Her time was the fifth-fastest of all prelims. Later, Obokhare Ikpefan won his heat of the men's 400m hurdles. The junior crossed the finish line with a time of 50.72 seconds to win his heat by 0.44 of a second and earn an automatic bid to Friday's quarterfinal.
Nicholas Parks advanced to Friday's quarterfinal in the men's 400m dash. The senior has run the best of his career over the latter half of this outdoor season and kept it up Thursday. He posted a time of 46.17 seconds to finish second in his heat. The time is the second fastest of his career behind only his school record from the Big Ten Championships. Parks' time was the eighth-fastest of the prelim, as he earned an automatic big to Friday.
Savannah Carson advanced to Friday's quarterfinals in the 100-meter dash. She earned one of three automatic bids in her heat, after she took third in the sixth heat. Her time was 11.61 seconds. Carson also competed in the long jump. She finished 15th in the region, just three spots shy of qualifying for the championships, with a best jump of 6.09m (19-11.75). Her mark was within three inches of qualifying.
Matthew McClintock's storied Purdue career came to an end Thursday night as he just missed qualifying in the 10,000-meter run. The three-time All-American finished 14th in the 10k with a time of 30:08.61. The race was a cautious one, as the entire pack stayed bunched together for the first 15 laps or so. McClintock maneuvered his way between second and 15th throughout those first 10 laps, before the field began to slightly draw out. With two laps to go, the top 14 pulled ahead of the rest. McClintock was between ninth and 12th until the final 300 meters when he moved to 14th, where he would finish. McClintock was Purdue Big Ten Medal of Honor recipient on the men's side this year.
Katie Hoevet finished 35th in the women's 1,500-meter run. The senior, who was a second-team All-American in the mile indoors, finished with a time of 4:29.45, which was ninth in her heat. Hoevet wraps up an impressive career that included the school record in the indoor mile, a fourth place finish in the 1,500m at Big Tens two weeks ago, as well as a point in the 5k at the conference meet. Hoevet was Purdue's Big Ten Medal of Honor winner on the women's side this year.
Full results from Thursday can be found at the top of the page.
Friday will be a busy day for the Boilermakers. Micaela Hazlewood, Chelsie Meeks and Sarah Loesch get things started with the women's hammer at noon. Next, Jessica Harter will compete in the pole vault and Janae' Moffitt in the high jump. Both events begin at 5 p.m. All of Purdue's first three events will have an NCAA Championships bid on the line. In all, up to 10 Boilermakers could punch their ticket to Eugene, Oregon, for the national championships.
Purdue's full schedule for the rest of the weekend is below.
To qualify for the NCAA Championships, individuals and relays must finish in the top 12 at the regional. Throwers, long jumpers and triple jumpers all get three attempts - no final round - before the top 12 advance to Eugene. The NCAA Championships are June 8 through June 11 at the University of Oregon.
Purdue Schedule
FRIDAY
Noon - Micaela Hazlewood (17), Chelsie Meeks (29), Sarah Loesch (43), Discus, Heat 2, Heat 2, Heat 1
5 - Jessica Harter (12), Pole Vault, Flight 2
5 - Janae' Moffitt (7), High Jump, Flight 1
5 - Shantyra Delaney (21), 100-meter hurdles, Heat 5, Lane 2
5:30 - Justin Veteto (33), 110-meter hurdles, Heat 4, Lane 4
6 - Brionna Thomas (13), 400-meter dash quarterfinal
6:15 - Nicholas Parks (13), 400-meter dash quarterfinal
6:30 - Savannah Carson (12), 100-meter dash quarterfinal
7:30 - Symone Black (5), 400-meter hurdles quarterfinal
7:45 - Obokhare Ikpefan (6), 400-meter hurdles quarterfinal
8 - Carmiesha Cox (16) and Savannah Roberson (25), 200-meter dash, Heat 3, Lane 4; Heat 4, Lane 2
8:25 - Malcolm Dotson (33), 200-meter dash, Heat 1, Lane 3
SATURDAY
3 - Anaquan Peterson (5), Triple Jump, Flight 4
6 - Chukwuebuka Enekwechi (1) and Luke Lewis (26), Shot Put, Flight 4, Flight 2
6 - Heath, Cox, Roberson, Carson (6), 4x100-meter relay, Heat 1, Lane 5
6:15 - McGee, Dotson, Webb, Pennerman, Parks (17), 4x100-meter relay, Heat 1, Lane 7
6:30 - Vania Anane (45), Triple Jump, Flight 1
7:05* - Shantyra Delaney (21), 100-meter hurdles quarterfinal
7:20* - Justin Veteto (33), 110-meter hurdles quarterfinal
7:35* - Carmiesha Cox (16) and Savannah Roberson (25), 200-meter dash quarterfinal
7:50* - Malcolm Dotson (33), 200-meter dash quarterfinal
8:45 - Tate Schienbein (39), 5,000-meter run semifinal, Heat 2
9:25 - Jones, Cox, Black, Thomas (10), 4x400-meter relay, Heat 1, Lane 7
9:45 - Parks, Ikpefan, Frederick, McLaren (4), 4x400-meter relay, Heat 1, Lane 8
(#)Regional Rank
*Must qualify through the first round to advance to the quarterfinal