FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Purdue track & field sophomore Marcellus Moore advanced to the 60-meter dash final and junior Isaiah Martin earned a top-10 finish on Friday on the second day of the 2021 NCAA Division I Indoor Track & Field Championships at the Randal Tyson Indoor Track Center in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
Moore is one of eight competitors to qualify for tomorrow's 60-meter final, and he did it in 6.65 seconds to tie the third-fastest time in school history. Additionally, junior Isaiah Martin finished 10th overall in the heptathlon while seniors Brian Faust and Alexis Zatta were 12th in the 400 and 15th in the high jump, respectively.
"I want to commend Alexis, Brian, Marcellus and Isaiah for really good efforts in competing today," Purdue coach Norbert Elliott said. "I'm really proud of every single one of them for the way that they competed hard and represented Purdue at the biggest stage in college athletics. They're in a field of the 16 best athletes in their events, so they're competing alongside the best and really showed that they belonged. All four of them competed hard and didn't show any nervous energy. They earned competitive marks that are not to be disappointed with."
Seeded No. 15 in the 60, Moore finished in 6.65 seconds to place eighth overall in the semifinals to earn the last spot in Saturday's final. His time also is tied for No. 3 all-time in the Purdue record books. Moore was third in the second heat.
"What can I say about Marcellus?," Elliott said. "Qualifying to NCAAs for the first time, seeded No. 15 and then making the finals. I always say it doesn't matter where you are seeded, everyone starts at zero when they get to the line. You have to dig, scrape and crawl to get to finals, and that's exactly what he did. He'll finish in the top eight, and I'm really proud of a great effort today."
Martin finished 10th in the heptathlon with 5,501 points. After four events on Thursday, he began the day in 14th place overall, but moved up four spots thanks to a strong final three events on Friday.
Already the school record-holder in the event, Martin eclipsed 5,500 points for the third time in his career and remains the only Boilermaker in program history to reach that mark. Additionally, he was second among four Big Ten competitors.
His day began with a fourth-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles in 8.16 seconds. It was the third-fastest time in Martin's collegiate career, which helped him rise to No. 10 in the standings, a spot he would not relinquish.
Next was the pole vault, where Martin cleared 4.26 meters and was 12th. Martin concluded the heptathlon in the 1,000, where he finished fifth in 2:45.98.
"It was a really good effort to move up quite a bit from 14th at the start of the day," Elliott said. "That shows his competitiveness to keep getting better as each event went along. He was really happy and pleased with his performance, and that's good. That's what you want to see at the end of the day, to have a smile on your face and be happy with your performance."
Faust raced in the 400, where he was 12th overall in 46.56. The senior, who owns the school record in the event, beat out the 13th-place finisher by 0.01 seconds.
Purdue's day concluded with the high jump, where Zatta was 15th and cleared 1.76 meters.
Faust, Martin, Moore and Zatta are joined by senior Tamar Greene at the national championship meet. Greene will make is NCAA Indoor Championships debut tomorrow in the triple jump.
The NCAA Championships concludes tomorrow with Greene in the triple jump at 2 p.m. ET and Moore in the 60-meter final at 3:30 p.m.
Fans can follow all the action with live results, an ESPN3 live stream and the event schedule, available on the track & field schedule page on PurdueSports.com/TrackField. Additional updates and notes on the Boilermakers can be found by connecting with the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
For more on the Purdue track & field and cross country program, visit PurdueSports.com/TrackField and follow and connect with the Boilermakers on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Moore is one of eight competitors to qualify for tomorrow's 60-meter final, and he did it in 6.65 seconds to tie the third-fastest time in school history. Additionally, junior Isaiah Martin finished 10th overall in the heptathlon while seniors Brian Faust and Alexis Zatta were 12th in the 400 and 15th in the high jump, respectively.
"I want to commend Alexis, Brian, Marcellus and Isaiah for really good efforts in competing today," Purdue coach Norbert Elliott said. "I'm really proud of every single one of them for the way that they competed hard and represented Purdue at the biggest stage in college athletics. They're in a field of the 16 best athletes in their events, so they're competing alongside the best and really showed that they belonged. All four of them competed hard and didn't show any nervous energy. They earned competitive marks that are not to be disappointed with."
Seeded No. 15 in the 60, Moore finished in 6.65 seconds to place eighth overall in the semifinals to earn the last spot in Saturday's final. His time also is tied for No. 3 all-time in the Purdue record books. Moore was third in the second heat.
"What can I say about Marcellus?," Elliott said. "Qualifying to NCAAs for the first time, seeded No. 15 and then making the finals. I always say it doesn't matter where you are seeded, everyone starts at zero when they get to the line. You have to dig, scrape and crawl to get to finals, and that's exactly what he did. He'll finish in the top eight, and I'm really proud of a great effort today."
Martin finished 10th in the heptathlon with 5,501 points. After four events on Thursday, he began the day in 14th place overall, but moved up four spots thanks to a strong final three events on Friday.
Already the school record-holder in the event, Martin eclipsed 5,500 points for the third time in his career and remains the only Boilermaker in program history to reach that mark. Additionally, he was second among four Big Ten competitors.
His day began with a fourth-place finish in the 60-meter hurdles in 8.16 seconds. It was the third-fastest time in Martin's collegiate career, which helped him rise to No. 10 in the standings, a spot he would not relinquish.
Next was the pole vault, where Martin cleared 4.26 meters and was 12th. Martin concluded the heptathlon in the 1,000, where he finished fifth in 2:45.98.
"It was a really good effort to move up quite a bit from 14th at the start of the day," Elliott said. "That shows his competitiveness to keep getting better as each event went along. He was really happy and pleased with his performance, and that's good. That's what you want to see at the end of the day, to have a smile on your face and be happy with your performance."
Faust raced in the 400, where he was 12th overall in 46.56. The senior, who owns the school record in the event, beat out the 13th-place finisher by 0.01 seconds.
Purdue's day concluded with the high jump, where Zatta was 15th and cleared 1.76 meters.
Faust, Martin, Moore and Zatta are joined by senior Tamar Greene at the national championship meet. Greene will make is NCAA Indoor Championships debut tomorrow in the triple jump.
The NCAA Championships concludes tomorrow with Greene in the triple jump at 2 p.m. ET and Moore in the 60-meter final at 3:30 p.m.
Fans can follow all the action with live results, an ESPN3 live stream and the event schedule, available on the track & field schedule page on PurdueSports.com/TrackField. Additional updates and notes on the Boilermakers can be found by connecting with the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
For more on the Purdue track & field and cross country program, visit PurdueSports.com/TrackField and follow and connect with the Boilermakers on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.