Friday Results
GENEVA, Ohio - Savannah Carson won the women's long jump conference title on the first day of the Big Ten Championships. The men's team scored 11 points on the opening day, with seven in the long jump and four in the shot put.
Carson had the best series of her career after entering the meet with the top mark in the conference. After opening with a leap of 5.95 meters (19-6.25), she followed it up with a jump of 6.35m (20-10.00) to take the lead. It was her second best jump of the season. Carson's next one, though, would be her best. The senior leapt 6.46m (21-2.50), the best of her career and the No. 2 mark in program history, just one centimeter behind Leah Eber's school record. Carson's leap ranks sixth in the NCAA this season. It held on to be the best in the competition by six inches giving her the gold medal.
The gold is the first individual Big Ten crown of her career. Carson was runner-up in the long jump at last year's conference meet. She also took silver in the 100m dash outdoors a year ago. With the 10 points Friday, Carson now has scored 23 points for her indoor Big Ten career.
Carson is the third Purdue woman to win the indoor Big Ten long jump title and the first since Eber in 2012. Eber also won in 2011, while Christina Madison won in 2010.
Gerald McGee and Matthew Garrison had career days in the men's long jump, which took place at the same time as the women's. Garrison came out of the first flight with the top overall leap - a distance of 7.25m (23-9.50) - which was good enough to advance to finals. McGee was in the second flight and had a PR jump of 7.50m (24-7.25) on his third attempt to move him into third place heading into finals. Garrison was fourth. Neither moved up on their final three jumps, but McGee held onto six points for third, while Garrison grabbed a point for eighth.
Luke Lewis was the first Boilermaker to score Saturday at the SPIRE Institute. The junior threw a PR in the shot put with a distance of 18.18m (59-7.75), which came on his fourth attempt. He had the same mark as the fourth place finisher, but the tiebreaker went to second best throw, which Reno Tuufuli of Iowa had.
The women's team had three individuals qualify for the 60m dash and 400m dash, while adding two more in the 200m dash. In the 400m dash, Brionna Thomas won her heat with a time of 53.23 seconds to automatically qualify for finals. Symone Black was also a heat winner, automatically advancing with a time of 53.67 seconds. Chloe Abbott was in the same heat as Black, meaning she'd have to grab an at-large spot in the finals. She did, as she ran a PR time of 53.96 seconds to earn the last spot in the eight-person final.
Abbott's time ranks third in program history. She is only the third woman at Purdue to ever break the 54-second barrier. Her time is the second-fastest freshman time in program history, behind only Black's 53.47-seconds time from the 2015 Big Ten Championships where she finished runner-up.
In the 60m dash, Devynne Charlton was a heat winner to automatically advance with a time of 7.34 seconds. Her time was the second-fastest overall in the prelims. Carmiesha Cox was 0.01 of a second off her 60m dash PR and finished second in her heat with a time of 7.36 seconds. She earned an at-large berth in the final. Freshman Sekayi Bracey also made the finals with a PR. She finished third in her heat, the same heat as Cox, with a time of 7.41 seconds. Her time was the sixth-fastest in the trials.
Bracey's time is tied for the fourth-fastest in program history. It is the Purdue-freshman record and ties the fastest time by a woman in the Big Ten since 2013.
Carson was also in the 60m dash and finished 10th, one spot and 0.009 of a second shy of qualifying for the finals.
In the 200m dash, Charlton won her heat with a time of 23.94 seconds to advance to finals. Savannah Roberson also made it back with a time of 23.70 seconds.
Charlton was a three-heat winner Saturday, as she also won her heat of the 60m hurdles. The defending Big Ten champion had the fastest time in the trials, crossing the line in 8.07 seconds. Roberson PRed in the event with a time of 8.38 seconds, which was good to finish 10th - one spot outside the finals. Roberson's time was 0.06 of a second off qualifying. Shantyra Delaney also had a PR in the 60m hurdles, crossing the line in 8.42 seconds. That time was briefly the No. 4 time in program history, before Roberson took over that spot with her time, bumping Delaney to No. 5.
Kiara McIntosh will be in the women's 800m final Saturday after qualifying with the sixth-fastest time Friday. McIntosh ran a time of 2:09.06 to finish second in her heat and automatically advance to the eight-person final.
Malcolm Dotson advanced to a pair of finals. He tied his PR in the 60m dash with a time of 6.73 seconds to move onto the Saturday final with the No. 7 overall time. In the 200m dash, he automatically qualified by winning his heat with a time of 21.31 seconds.
Justin Veteto had another big day in the men's 60m hurdles. The junior ran a PR time of 7.88 seconds to finish second in his heat with the fourth fastest time of the day. Veteto's time ranks seventh in school history and 31st in the country. Bijay Stephens was also in the hurdles and had a PR time of 8.33 seconds, which finished 19th.
Elsewhere around the track, Rebecca Coan had a PR in the pentathlon. She finished 10th in her inaugural Big Ten Championship with 3,413 points. Shawndail McLaren had a 400m PR of 47.07 seconds, which ranks fourth in school history. McLaren finished 13th in the event. Kinard Rolle was 14th in the men's 400m dash with a time of 47.11 seconds.
Jahneya Mitchell had a PR in the 600m dash. She ran a time of 1:31.10 seconds to finish 10th overall. Mitchell's time ranks sixth in school history. In the last month and a half since Mitchell arrived on campus, she shaved 10 seconds off her 600m dash time.
On top of her big day in the 60m dash, Bracey had her best day as a Boilermaker in the long jump. She leapt 5.75m (18-10.50), which was two centimeters and one spot shy of advancing to the finals. She finished 10th overall and second among freshmen.
After a day of action, the men are 10th with 11 points, while the women are 10th with 10 points. Saturday's action will be full of scoring opportunities for both sides.