Friday Results
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - Sarah Loesch and Micaela Hazlewood got the 15th-ranked women on the board on the first day of the Big Ten Outdoor Championships. Loesch finished runner-up in the hammer throw to earn eight points, while Hazlewood took seventh to earn two. The women are in sixth place with 10 points with two days left in the championships. Jaret Carpenter got the men on the board in the final event of the day, the 10,000-meter run, with a seventh place finish. The men are currently seventh.
Loesch entered the meet seeded 11th with a personal record of 58.51 meters (191-11). Friday, she threw a career-best on her second attempt with a toss of 59.26m (194-5). That put her in fourth heading into finals. There, she threw 60.49m (198-5) on her fifth attempt to move into second place where she would finish. Her throw ranks third in school history and is the best by a Boilermaker since 2007. Loesch finishes 21 spots higher in the event than she did a year ago at Big Tens.
"Today, I just tried to focus on competing and trying to get as many points as I could," Loesch said. "I just thought about trying to move up with each attempt. I've been searching for a 60-meter throw all season and it feels good to finally have it come together in competition. Being on the podium has been a goal of mine since indoors, so being able to do it now feels incredible.
"It's nice to have scored some points today, but I still have discus tomorrow. So, I am looking forward to competing hard in that event as well."
Hazlewood entered the meet seeded seventh and finished in the same spot. She threw 58.18m (190-10) on her third attempt to make finals in sixth place. Hazlewood improved to 58.66m (192-5) on her fourth attempt and the mark held on to be her best for the day. It was her first time scoring in the hammer.
The women's 200m dash group executed perfectly Friday. The group was seeded to get all four of Chloe Abbott, Devynne Charlton, Carmiesha Cox and Savannah Roberson back to finals. Cox won her heat with a time of 23.48 seconds to automatically advance to finals. Roberson was right behind her in 23.53 seconds to earn the fastest at-large bid. Abbott won her heat with a time of 23.78 seconds to auto-advance, while Charlton was right behind her to take second in the heat with a time of 23.82 seconds. Charlton had the third fastest of five at-large berths in Sunday's finals.
Symone Black made it back in the 400m hurdles and did so with seeming ease. She ran a time of 57.57 seconds, which was the fastest time through all the prelims, and won her heat by 1.63 seconds. She'll compete Sunday in the finals, where in her previous two meets has a gold and silver medal finish.
On the men's side, Carpenter battled in his first career 10,000m race. He hung with the lead pack through the first 20 laps, until he got caught lapping another competitor. There, he made a move to try to get around, but was bumped and knocked down onto his back. The freshman was able to regain his composure and pop up, but was then behind the lead pack with just over a mile to go. Carpenter fought to finish with a time of 29:49.88 to finish seventh. The time ranks seventh in school history and earned two points for the men.
Obokhare Ikpefan qualified for the 400m hurdles finals. The senior ran a time of 52.16 seconds to take second in his heat and automatically qualify for finals. Justin Veteto finished 12th in the event with a time of 52.66 seconds, while Bijay Stephens was 16th with a PR time of 53.46 seconds.
Kyle Webb was the first one out of the finals in the men's 200m dash. He ran a time of 21.37 seconds to finish 10th. He was 0.03 of a second outside of qualifying.
Elsewhere on the track, Rebecca Coan competed in the first four events of the heptathlon. Coan's best events were the 100m hurdles and the 200m dash, both of which she scored 764 points. Her time in the 100m hurdles was 15.60 seconds, while her 200m dash time was 26.38 seconds. After day one, Coan is in 13th with 2,827 points. She is 190 points behind the eighth place scoring position.
Bradley Hoselton had a huge PR in the men's javelin. He threw 63.01m (206-8) on his second attempt to better his previous career best by 8 feet, 5 inches. It also ranks fifth in school history and is the best by a Boilermaker since 2006. Hoselton finished 11th. Luke Lewis took 15th in the men's hammer throw. He finished with a throw of 53.95m (177-0).
In the 10,000-meter runs, Emma Benner took 15th on the women's side. She ran a time of 35:08.59. Grace Lachmund finished 19th in 35:49.31.
The Boilermakers will be busy Saturday. They have the remainder of the preliminary events on the track, as well as the women's long jump finals, high jump finals, discus finals and steeplechase finals. The men have the shot put finals, long jump finals and steeplechase finals. Saturday's action starts at 9:30 a.m.
Saturday heat sheets will be posted when they become available.