Friday Results / Saturday Start Lists
DES MOINES, Iowa - Symone Black defended her 400-meter hurdles title before the women's 4x200-meter relay team followed suit Friday at the Drake Relays. The Boilermakers had a good day while battling the 38-degree, rainy weather at Drake Stadium.
Black entered the meet with the top 400m hurdles time in the Big Ten and the No. 5 time in the country. She ran in the third heat and after getting out to a good start, held off Wisconsin's Brenna Detra by 0.22 of a second to win. Black's crossed the line in 58.91 seconds. She is the only Boilermaker to ever win the 400m hurdles at Drake Relays, let alone to repeat as champion.
"It feels great to win it a second year in a row," Black said. "It was really cold out there, but we all ran in the same conditions. It just feels good to win. It started raining harder when we stepped on the track, but we all had the deal with the same thing. So, it just came down to who wanted it the most."
The women's 4x200m relay team didn't have to deal with as much rain, but the temperatures will still low. The team of Carmiesha Cox, Savannah Roberson, Myia Dorsey and Chloe Abbott looked to defend the title that Cox, Roberson, Autumn Heath and Savannah Carson earned last year. Friday, the Boilermakers came out of the second heat knowing that the time to beat from the first heat was 1:35.99 by Kansas State. The Boilermakers had a slight lead on Ohio State at the final exchange, before Abbott took the stick cleanly, while the Buckeyes dropped the baton. Abbott surged ahead from the rest of the pack to cross the line in 1:35.37, a full 3.45 seconds ahead of the next team, and faster than the heat 1 winner.
"I just wanted to get our team off to a good start because that's very important," Cox said. "I just wanted to give our team something to work with. I knew that we were the champions from last year and we wanted to repeat that. It's great to repeat, especially since I'm a senior and it's my last time here. We were just prepared for bad weather and competed."
Kiara McIntosh had a great race in the pouring rain. The senior ran a personal record time in the 800m run and finished second with a time of 2:06.51. That time is 0.46 of a second faster than her previous best and ranks fourth in school history. Her time ranks fourth in the Big Ten this season.
The Boilermakers advanced through to six Saturday finals with their performances Friday. Justin Veteto qualified for the 110-meter hurdles finals after finishing sixth with a wind-legal time of 14.14 seconds. Shantyra Delaney made it in the 100m hurdles after winning her heat with a time of 13.87 seconds. That was the fourth-fastest in the prelims.
Both men's and women's 4x100-meter relays and 4x400-meter relays advanced to finals. The men's 4x100m relay team of Gerald McGee, Kinard Rolle, Kyle Webb and Shawndail McLaren finished fifth overall, including second in its heat with a time of 41.88 seconds. The 4x400m relay team of Webb, Ikpefan, Rolle and McLaren finished with a time of 3:10.63, which was second in its heat and fifth overall.
In the women's relays, the 4x100m team of Devynne Charlton, Cox, Roberson and Carson had the top overall time after finishing in 45.11 seconds. The women will have a Big Ten showdown Saturday, as Iowa was the second fastest team in the prelims, Ohio State third and Illinois fifth. In the 4x400m relay, the team of Jahneya Mitchell, Samara Miller, Brionna Thomas and Abbott won its heat with a time of 3:41.23. That was the second fastest overall time.
Late Thursday night, the Boilermakers competed in distance events at Drake. Grace Lachmund had a huge PR in the 5,000-meter run after finishing in 16:33.88. Jake Hanawalt was the top Boilermaker to finish the men's race and did so with a PR of 14:16.65. That ranks 10th in school history. Matt Grider was just behind him, finishing in 14:16.70. Jeremy Craven finished with a time of 14:28.97.
A Boilermaker alum had a big day at Drake, winning the women's Elite Shot Put competition. Dani Bunch currently has the world-leading shot put mark for 2017, which she threw at the Rankin/Poehlein Invitational at Purdue last week. She entered with that mark, 19.12m (62-8.75), and was up against former national champions and Olympians. The event was a "throw for the dough" event, meaning the top mark in each round would win $1,000, and then the winner would take home $2,500. Bunch won three rounds, including her final throw, which went 18.55m (60-10.50). She moved up from third to first and ended up earning $5,500 and a Drake Relays title.
"It feels good to be the elite champ after winning the collegiate competition twice when I was in school," Bunch said. "It's mostly just a mental game at this level. You already know everything technically that you need to do. It's pretty much just you, the competitors and the weather here."
The Boilermakers will be busy Saturday as they wrap up the meet. Full heat sheets for the day are at the top of the page. Follow the action on Twitter @PurdueTrackXC.