Photos / Results
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Jessica Harter broke the women's pole vault school record Saturday at the Rankin/Poehlein Invitational. The Boilermakers added five other top 10 marks in program history in the final meet before the championship season begins next week.
Harter had three great jumps to open in the women's pole vault. She cleared 3.91 meters (12-10.00) and 4.06m (13-3.75) with ease before moving to 4.21m (13-9.75), a mark no woman in Purdue history had ever cleared outdoors. Harter needed just one attempt and made it look easy, breaking the program record by a centimeter. She won the event in the final home competition of her career. Harter's mark ranks 27th in the country this season and fourth in the Big Ten.
Chukwuebuka Enekwechi wrapped up his home career with the shot put Saturday. A day after winning the hammer throw with a new facility record, the senior won the shot put. He threw a winning mark of 20.06m (65-9.75), his first time over 20m at Rankin Track and Field. Enekwechi won by more than two feet and his throw is farther than any other Big Ten shot putter has recorded this season. Only three other throwers have hit 20m this season nationally.
Yamani Hunter had a huge personal record in the women's long jump. The freshman has been on the verge of breaking out and did so Saturday with two jumps over six meters, the first two of her career. Hunter's best jump came on her fourth attempt, where she leapt a wind-legal 6.13m (20-1.50) to win the event. Hunter's mark is an outdoor best by more than a foot and a half and gives her the sixth-best jump in the Big Ten this season. Hunter's jump is tied for the eighth best in school history.
Chelsie Meeks continued her impressive season in the discus. She had three throws over her previous personal best, including two marks over 50 meters. On her second attempt, Meeks threw 50.41m (165-4), which moved her up from eighth to seventh in program history. She finished third overall in the competition and is now ranked ninth in the Big Ten this season.
Matthew Garrison was another Boilermaker with a huge PR. The sophomore competed in the long jump took just three jumps, but his third one was the biggest of his career. Garrison, who had never leapt 24 feet, jumped 7.60m (24-11.25) with a tailwind of 2.5 meters per second. The tailwind prevents the mark from entering the record book, where it would otherwise tie for the seventh best jump in program history. Garrison's mark is the fourth best in the Big Ten this season. The mark will also qualify him for the NCAA East Preliminary round. Garrison finished third overall and was the top collegiate finisher.
Vania Anane won the women's triple jump while Anaquan Peterson was the runner-up in the men's event. Anane jumped a season-best 12.55m (41-2.25) on her first attempt, which is the sixth best in the Big Ten this year. Peterson leapt 15.77m (51-9.00) to finish runner-up.
Elizabeth Iversen and Alisha Bahler had PRs in the women's shot put to finish second and third, respectively. Iversen threw 14.88m (48-10.00), which ranks sixth in program history. Bahler threw 14.82m (48-7.50), which moved her up to seventh in program history. Micaela Hazlewood, who has the eighth best mark in program history, finished fourth Saturday.
Justin Veteto won the 110m hurdles and the 400m hurdles. In the 110m event, he ran a time of 14.14 seconds to win by 0.65 of a second. In the 400m hurdles, he crossed the finish line in 52.94 seconds. Both times were just off his PRs.
Taylor Dunlap and Kinard Rolle made it a clean sweep in the 400m dashes for the Boilermakers, while Malcolm Dotson and Josh Ebikwo were also winners. Dotson took the 100m dash, while Ebikwo won the 200m. Jake Hanawalt won the men's 5,000-meter run and Grace Lachmund was the winner of the same event on the women's side.
Saturday was the final day of action prior to championship season. The Boilermakers head to Lincoln, Nebraska, next week for the three-day Big Ten Championships. Two weeks later, the team will send its qualifiers to the NCAA East Preliminary rounds, before the NCAA Championships begin the second week of June.