/ Schedule / Friday Heat Sheets / Meet Notes
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The track & field teams head to State College, Pennsylvania, for the 2017 Big Ten Championships this weekend. The men's and women's teams look to improve upon their third and fourth place finishes, respectively, from last season, but will likely have to do so in less than ideal conditions as the forecast for all three days calls for cool temperatures and rain.
The weekend's action begins Friday at noon ET and runs through Sunday evening when a conference champion will be crowned on the men's and women's sides. Most of Saturday and Sunday's action will be broadcast live online on BTN2Go, while a condensed version of the meet will air on the Big Ten Network on Sunday at 7 p.m.
The 15th ranked women enter the meet as one of two conference teams ranked in the top 25. The hosting Penn State Nittany Lions are the other ranked team and enter the meet at No. 24. Penn State won the indoor conference meet, while the Boilermakers were second just 2.5 points behind.
The Boilermaker squad is deep with individuals in the top eight in 13 of the 21 scored events. Redshirt junior Devynne Charlton is back at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships for the first time since 2015, where she won a pair of gold medals, as well as a silver, after winning the 100-meter dash and 4x100-meter relays and finishing runner-up in the 100-meter hurdles. This season, she leads the conference in the 100m dash and 100m hurdles, while she is a member of the conference's second best 4x100m relay team.
Another member of the 4x100m relay team is redshirt junior Savannah Carson. Carson ranks second in the conference in the 100m dash and is the conference leader in the long jump. She leads the team with 22 career outdoor conference points scored, including eight for her runner-up finish in the 100m dash last year.
The women won six events at the indoor conference championships earlier this season, with two from Charlton in the 60m dash and 60m hurdles, and one from Carson in the long jump. Sophomore Janae' Moffitt has won two indoor high jump conference titles and finished runner-up outdoors last year. This time she enters the championships tied for fifth in the league. Junior Brionna Thomas was the indoor 400m dash champion, but has not yet run the event outdoors. She'll compete in it Saturday, as well as run with the 4x400m relay team. That relay team won the indoor conference title this year, but currently ranks third outdoors.
Symone Black was the 400m hurdles conference champion in 2015, before finishing runner-up a year ago. She leads the Big Ten in the event this season and will compete in the preliminary round Friday. Micaela Hazlewood will compete in three throwing events as the top Boilermaker in all three. The junior is second in conference in the discus, seventh in the hammer throw and 12th in the shot put. In the distances, Emma Benner is the top Boilermaker in the 10,000m run. The freshman has competed in the event just once this season and ranks third in the conference, while she also holds the school record in the 5k.
On the men's side, senior Obokhare Ikpefan leads the team as one of the nation's best 400m hurdlers. He finished runner-up at the conference meet a year ago and enters the meet second in the Big Ten this season. He is also a member of the 4x400m relay. Eric Blackman is among the contenders in the high jump. The junior ranks second in the conference.
Anaquan Peterson enters the meet as a contender in the triple jump and long jump. The senior, who has scored 18.25 career points in outdoor Big Ten Championships, is fourth in the conference in the triple jump this season, as well as 18th in the long jump. Justin Veteto will be in the mix in the 110m hurdles and the 400m hurdles. The junior was the bronze medalist in the 60m hurdles indoors this season and ranks fifth in the Big Ten in the 110m hurdles entering the meet.
Live results will be available for the meet on Prime Time Timing. Results and notes will also be posted live on Twitter @PurdueTrackXC.
The women's team is looking for its first team outdoor conference title since 1999 and just its third in program history. The men's side is looking for its first title.
Heat sheets will be posted as they become available late Thursday night with meet notes to follow.