Friday Results / Team Scores
EUGENE, Ore. - The men's track & field team earned its highest finish since 1972 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships hosted by the University of Oregon. The men's 4x400-meter relay team added three points to the team score to bring the team total to 14 and give them their eighth top-15 finish in program history.
"It means a lot for the program and the kids to finish top 15 at the national championships," head coach Lonnie Greene said. "Kudos to Chuk Enekwechi because he did an outstanding job to get us on the board. Then, for the men's 4x4 to come in and score for us was big because it got us into the top 15. In 1972, I was 6 years old. That's a long time. The reality is that we are a national power and a national contender. We are only going to get better. This finish means a lot to us and to our coaching staff and to the entire athletic department. I'm just grateful to the Lord for his will to shift the program and the culture of this program to where academics and athletics go hand in hand where we are competing on a national level among the best."
Nicholas Parks led things off for the men's 1,600-meter relay team. He got the stick to Kyle Webb, who ran the second leg. The first two legs had a combined time of 1:33.78. Then it was Kendal Frederick's turn. He ran the Boilermakers fastest leg of the day with a time of 46.15 seconds. Shawndail McLaren brought it home, edging conference foe Ohio State at the line. Then, a disqualification to Mississippi State bumped Purdue up another spot to sixth place, where they would finish.
The men's 4x400m relay team is the first to earn first team All-America honors for the outdoor season in program history. The Boilermakers were also first team All-Americans in the event during the indoor campaign.
The men's relay team earned three points Friday, which were added to the 11 that Chukwuebuka Enekwechi scored Wednesday. The team's 14 points are also the program's most since 1972.
The race wrapped up the men's 2016 season. The women have three entries left, with Chelsie Meeks and Micaela Hazlewood in the discus, while Janae' Moffitt will compete in the high jump. Both events are scheduled to start at 6 p.m. ET.