WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue track & field team concluded the Gene Edmonds Memorial Invitational with nine victories and set or tied seven personal records on Saturday at Lambert Fieldhouse.
Final Results | Photo Gallery | Coach Elliott Video Interview
At the two day, 14-team meet, the Boilermakers combined to set or tie three top-10 marks in program history, win 17 events and notch a total of 26 personal records.
"Overall, I was really pleased with our performance," Purdue coach Norbert Elliott said. "We came in here a week early, and we've really only had five days to prepare and train, but amazingly, because of the work that we've done this past fall, we were able to see some really good performances. In fact, we had some personal-best performances, which is really unusually strange for this early in the season."
The first running event of the day was the 60-meter hurdles final, where sophomore Dainon Wray earned the victory. His personal-record time of 8.05 seconds came after he posted the top time in Friday's heats, with a then-PR 8.15.
A day after an impressive display by several Boilermakers in the heats and semifinals of the men's 60-meter dash, the event final saw junior Waseem Williams win in 6.75 seconds. With a time that would rank as the ninth-fastest in school history if he didn't already have a tie for the Purdue record, Williams bested senior Samson Colebrooke, who was third (6.79) and sophomore Justin Becker (5th, 6.96).
The Boilermakers won both 800-meter races thanks to a pair of runners making their career debuts in the event. Freshman Ellie Tate won it for the women, with a time of 2:15.09, and Brody Smith led a 1-2 finish for the men. He earned a time of 1:53.61 to beat out sophomore Yonas Araya (1:57.11).
Freshman Meagan Hathaway also earned a win in her career debut in the mile. She finished in 4:58.79, ahead of junior teammate Megan Slamkowski, who was second (5:06.44).
Purdue claimed two victories in field events on Saturday. Senior Jah Strange won the men's long jump (7.33 meters), and Janae' Moffitt took top marks in the women's high jump (1.76 meters).
In his second event of the day, Becker earned a win in the 200-meter run, crossing the finish line in 22.19 seconds.
The final event of the meet was the 4x400-meter relay that saw the Boilermaker women win with a time of 3:48.33. The men placed second in 3:27.07.
Additionally, senior Jaden Mattox (long jump, 6.04 meters), junior Kyle Griffith (mile, 4:14.56), sophomore Jessica Bray (pole vault, 3.90 meters) and freshman Jabari Bryant (400-meter dash, 50.10) all earned runner-up finishes on Saturday.
In its first multi-day meet of the 2020 campaign, Purdue hosted in-state foes Ball State, Butler, Calumet College of St. Joseph and IUPUI, along with Alabama State, Austin Peay, the University of The Bahamas, Lindenwood, Louisville, Maryville, Northwestern, Southeast Missouri State and UW Milwaukee.
A complete recap of Friday's opening day of competition can be found at PurdueSports.com.
Up next, Purdue travels to Iowa City, Iowa, for the Larry Wieczorek Invitational from Jan. 17-18. The meet commences on Friday, Jan. 17, with field events at 10:30 a.m. ET/9:30 a.m. CT, and running events beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. CT. Saturday's competition begins at 1 p.m. ET/noon CT.
For more on the Purdue track and field team, visit PurdueSports.com and follow and connect with the Boilermakers on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Final Results | Photo Gallery | Coach Elliott Video Interview
At the two day, 14-team meet, the Boilermakers combined to set or tie three top-10 marks in program history, win 17 events and notch a total of 26 personal records.
"Overall, I was really pleased with our performance," Purdue coach Norbert Elliott said. "We came in here a week early, and we've really only had five days to prepare and train, but amazingly, because of the work that we've done this past fall, we were able to see some really good performances. In fact, we had some personal-best performances, which is really unusually strange for this early in the season."
🎥 Hear what Coach Elliott had to say after an impressive showing for the Boilermakers at the Gene Edmonds Memorial Invite.#BoilerUp 🚂 pic.twitter.com/V7IGcGqitI
— Purdue Track & Field / Cross Country (@PurdueTrackXC) January 12, 2020
The first running event of the day was the 60-meter hurdles final, where sophomore Dainon Wray earned the victory. His personal-record time of 8.05 seconds came after he posted the top time in Friday's heats, with a then-PR 8.15.
A day after an impressive display by several Boilermakers in the heats and semifinals of the men's 60-meter dash, the event final saw junior Waseem Williams win in 6.75 seconds. With a time that would rank as the ninth-fastest in school history if he didn't already have a tie for the Purdue record, Williams bested senior Samson Colebrooke, who was third (6.79) and sophomore Justin Becker (5th, 6.96).
The Boilermakers won both 800-meter races thanks to a pair of runners making their career debuts in the event. Freshman Ellie Tate won it for the women, with a time of 2:15.09, and Brody Smith led a 1-2 finish for the men. He earned a time of 1:53.61 to beat out sophomore Yonas Araya (1:57.11).
Freshman Meagan Hathaway also earned a win in her career debut in the mile. She finished in 4:58.79, ahead of junior teammate Megan Slamkowski, who was second (5:06.44).
Purdue claimed two victories in field events on Saturday. Senior Jah Strange won the men's long jump (7.33 meters), and Janae' Moffitt took top marks in the women's high jump (1.76 meters).
In his second event of the day, Becker earned a win in the 200-meter run, crossing the finish line in 22.19 seconds.
The final event of the meet was the 4x400-meter relay that saw the Boilermaker women win with a time of 3:48.33. The men placed second in 3:27.07.
Additionally, senior Jaden Mattox (long jump, 6.04 meters), junior Kyle Griffith (mile, 4:14.56), sophomore Jessica Bray (pole vault, 3.90 meters) and freshman Jabari Bryant (400-meter dash, 50.10) all earned runner-up finishes on Saturday.
In its first multi-day meet of the 2020 campaign, Purdue hosted in-state foes Ball State, Butler, Calumet College of St. Joseph and IUPUI, along with Alabama State, Austin Peay, the University of The Bahamas, Lindenwood, Louisville, Maryville, Northwestern, Southeast Missouri State and UW Milwaukee.
A complete recap of Friday's opening day of competition can be found at PurdueSports.com.
Up next, Purdue travels to Iowa City, Iowa, for the Larry Wieczorek Invitational from Jan. 17-18. The meet commences on Friday, Jan. 17, with field events at 10:30 a.m. ET/9:30 a.m. CT, and running events beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET/5:30 p.m. CT. Saturday's competition begins at 1 p.m. ET/noon CT.
For more on the Purdue track and field team, visit PurdueSports.com and follow and connect with the Boilermakers on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.