Friday Results / Saturday Heat Sheets
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Eight Boilermakers qualified for the NCAA Championships on Friday at Hodges Stadium on North Florida's campus. Two of the qualifiers punched their tickets by breaking a school record.
The first event of the day, the women's discus, set the tone for the day. Sarah Loesch got things going with a personal record and the No. 9 mark in program history. Her second attempt was the best attempt of her career, traveling a distance of 49.73 meters (163-2). That distance was nearly two feet better than her previous best. She had the fourth-best throw in the first flight.
Then came Chelsie Meeks and Micaela Hazlewood in the second flight. On Meeks' second attempt, she hit 52.75m (173-0), which was better than her previous career best by seven feet, seven inches. The throw moved her into fifth in program history and fourth in the competition. Hazlewood was three throwers later and obliterated the school record. The sophomore, who also qualified last season, launched the discus up the right side of the sector and landed it a distance of 55.77m (182-11). The throw was a PR by eight feet, two inches and broke the school record by seven feet, one inch. Astin Steward had held the previous record of 53.90m (175-10) since 2007. Hazlewood's mark was the best through the first two flights and held on to finish third overall.
Meeks' mark was sixth through two flights, which meant she had to wait for the 16 third-flight throwers to see if she would hang on to a top 12 spot. Only four individuals would pass her, giving Meeks a trip to Eugene, Oregon, for the NCAA Championships with the 10th best throw of the meet.
Nicholas Parks continued his historic run over the past several meets. The senior qualified for the 400-meter quarterfinals Thursday with a time faster than all but one other individual in program history. Friday, he went up against three of the top 16 400-meter runners in the country, including two of the top eight. Parks put himself in the lead down the final stretch and finished with time of 45.71 seconds to automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships, as he was third in the heat. His time broke his own school record of 45.80 seconds, which he set two weeks ago at the Big Ten Championships. Parks' qualification is his first in an individual event to the national championships.
Both 400-meter hurdlers earned berths in the NCAA Championships for their first times in the event. Symone Black was first and was in the first of three heats. She went head-to-head with the region's top runner, Kiah Seymour of Kentucky, and hung with her most of the race. Despite stuttering over one of the final hurdles, Black came across the finish line with a time of 56.88 seconds to take fourth in the heat, out-leaning Taysia Radoslav of Cornell, whose time showed the exact same on the scoreboard. Black grabbed the final at-large spot to advance to the NCAA Championships, meaning her 0.005 of a second lean to beat Radoslav was the difference.
Ikpefan was next in the men's 400m hurdles. He was among the top three runners throughout the race and despite knocking over the final hurdle, maintained his spot and crossed the line third in the heat with a time of 50.63 seconds to earn an automatic bid. Ikpefan's time was the 10th fastest in the quarterfinal. The junior qualifies for his first individual event at an NCAA Championship.
The next qualifier was Savannah Carson. The sophomore was in the 100-meter dash quarterfinal after qualifying Thursday. Running in the second heat, Carson finished with a time of 11.47 seconds, which was sixth in the heat. She was 0.008 of a second ahead of the fourth-place finisher from the first heat, which meant she was still alive for a berth, but needed the fourth-place finisher in the third heat to run a slower time than hers. Michigan's Cindi Ofili was fourth in the third heat and finished with a time of 11.48, meaning all three at-large bids, including Carson's, would come from the second heat.
Janae' Moffitt booked her trip to the NCAA Championships in the high jump. The freshman Big Ten runner-up was clean through 1.76m (5-9.25), before she missed her first two attempts at 1.80m (5-10.75). On her third attempt, Moffitt came up clutch and cleared, making her one of just 12 individuals to clear the height, which earned her a spot in the national championships.
Jessica Harter earned her first bid to the national championships in the pole vault. The senior, who has broken the school record twice in the last two meets, overcame a miss on her first attempt at 3.95m (12-11.50), where she ran through. From there, she was perfect on her next three attempts, clearing that height, then 4.10m (13-5.25) and 4.20m (13-9.25) on her first attempts. Those would be important, because Harter missed at 4.25m (13-11.25), meaning the final qualifying spots would be decided by misses. Harter tied for the 11th spot, meaning she was one of the final two qualifiers to advance to the NCAA Championships.
The Boilermakers had four other qualifiers to Saturday quarterfinals. Shantyra Delaney took fourth in the fifth heat of the 100m hurdles with a time of 13.44 seconds. That earned her the third of six at-large bids to the qualifying round. She will run at 7:05 p.m. ET Saturday. Justin Veteto advanced to the quarterfinals in the 110m hurdles. He finished fifth in the fourth heat with a time of 14.06 seconds, just off his PR, to earn the second at-large bid.
Carmiesha Cox and Savannah Roberson advanced to the quarterfinals in the women's 200m dash. Cox was in the third heat and earned an automatic bid, as she finished third with a time of 23.34 seconds. Her time was the 16th-fastest overall time of the prelims. Roberson was fourth in the fourth heat and finished with a time of 23.46 seconds. Her time, just 0.04 of a second off her personal best, earned the fourth at-large bid. Cox and Roberson will race for spots in Eugene at 7:35 p.m. Saturday.
Saturday will be another busy day for the Boilermakers. Anaquan Peterson will get things started with the men's triple jump. The event will start at 3 p.m., though Peterson is in the fourth flight and likely to start a little after 4 p.m. Also Saturday, the men and women will both compete in the 4x100m and 4x100m relays. The women were qualifiers and first team All-Americans in both last year, while the men were first team All-Americans indoors this season in the 4x400m. Chukwuebuka Enekwechi and Luke Lewis will compete in the shot put. Enekwechi has already qualified in the hammer throw.
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
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
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