CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Junior Tamar Greene and the men's 4x100 relay squad won Big Ten titles for the Purdue track & field team on Sunday at the 2021 Big Ten Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Champaign, Illinois.
The Boilermakers won six medals, two golds, two silvers and two bronzes, and recorded 19 top-eight finishes on the final day of competition at Illinois' Gary R. Wieneke Track at Demirjian Park. Purdue also had five top-10 marks in school history and set nine career-bests on Sunday.
In total at the three-day conference championship meet, Purdue won two events and had 25 top-eight podium finishes, including six in the top three. Two school records were broken and 14 top-10 times in program history were set. The Boilermakers totaled 34 personal-record marks.
"First, I want to commend our men's team for putting up a really good, strong fight," Purdue coach Norbert Elliott said. "We went into this competition thinking that we could be in the top three, but we really had some mishaps, and so, when you lose firepower, it's just hard to compete. But, our athletes definitely put up a good battle, a good fight, and gave a good showing for that sixth-place finish. We had some really good performances, had a couple of school records, a few top-10 marks and many personal-best marks, so all in all it was a really good, strong effort on the men's side."
Greene and the men's 4x100 relay team of seniors Samson Colebrooke and Malcolm Dotson, sophomore Justin Becker and freshman Marcellus Moore were recognized on the All-Big Ten First Team as Big Ten champions, while senior Samara Miller and freshmen Saran Kouyeth, K'Ja Talley and Cierra Williams were named to the All-Big Ten Second Team as runners-up.
The Purdue men finished sixth overall with 67 points. The Boilermakers were just six points shy of a top-four finish, as seven points separated fourth through seventh place. Iowa won the conference title with 127.5 points. The Boilermaker women placed 10th with 41.5 points, while Ohio State won with 117 points.
"We have a very young women's team, so the future looks really bright," Elliott said. "We have to fill in some missing pieces, but I'm very pleased that many of our freshmen and sophomore athletes were in the thick of things in this conference and representing the Old Gold and Black very, very well."
Greene won his fifth career Big Ten medal and third gold medal, as he defended his triple jump title from 2019. The junior had a winning jump of 16.11 meters, which came on his fourth attempt. The mark would rank No. 6 in program history if Greene didn't already hold the No. 5 spot.
The Boilermakers have won three of the last four Big Ten outdoor triple jump title, as Greene is joined by Anaquan Peterson, the 2017 gold medalist. Greene's latest conference championship comes after he won gold in the triple jump and 4x100 relay outdoors in 2019, and he also has a silver and bronze in the triple jump indoors.
"I want to commend Tamar, he had to jump with a wrist brace on, and today's performance just shows the kind of talent and downright guts and fortitude that he has," Elliott said. "He fought to defend his title, and, in fact, he has one more year to go, and he has a chance to be a three-time champion in the triple jump. That was really, really good to see today."
Purdue's first gold medal of the day came in the opening event on the track, the men's 4x100, as the Boilermakers finished in 39.30. Colebrooke Dotson, Becker and Moore ran the fourth-fastest time in Purdue history and won by 0.37 seconds.
The relay squad defended its Big Ten title from 2019 and won its fourth gold in the event since it was first contested in 1979.
Purdue's 4x100 performance proved to be the first of several strong races by the men's sprinters.
"I was happy with the improved time in the men's 4x100 to win that event, which bodes well for the NCAA Regionals and our chances of advancing to the NCAA Championships," Elliott added. "When you lose someone like (senior sprinter) Waseem Williams, that really hurts. He's a 100-meter Big Ten champion, and that's 10 points that're hard to make up. All in all, I was quite pleased with the performances, particularly today. Marcellus Moore and Sampson Colebrook in the 100, and then with the addition of Malcolm Dotson in the 200, they all gave a good showing."
Colebrooke was second in the 100 in 10.30, just 0.04 seconds behind the winner. His time would rank No. 5 in school history if he weren't already third. Moore was fifth in the 100, in 10.35 seconds, which is eighth-fastest in the Purdue record books.
Both women's relay teams won medals with top-10 times in program history, as the 4x400 was second and the 4x100 placed third.
In the final event of the day, the 4x400 finished in 3:33.70 to win silver. The fifth-fastest time in school history was run by Talley, Williams, Kouyeth and Miller.
The 4x100 relay squad claimed bronze in 44.69, which ranks No. 8 in the Purdue record books. Kouyeth, Talley, freshman Naomi Campbell and sophomore Camille Christopher earned the third-place finish by nearly 0.40 seconds and ran the fastest time by a Boilermaker team since 2018.
Sophomore Alexis Zatta won bronze in the high jump. She earned a mark of 1.76 meters on a clearance on her second attempt. Zatta's Big Ten medal is her second in 2021, after she won gold at the indoor conference meet in February.
"Our women's 4x100 relay, we were nowhere in sight, and moved up quite a bit during the race," Elliott said. Our women's 4x400, Alexis Zatta in the high jump and a couple in the 400, Samira Miller and Cierra Williams, did really well today. Across the board, we've added to our list of regional qualifiers."
Junior Jalil Brewer advanced to the final in the shot put and earned a fourth-place finish. With a throw of 19.57 meters on his sixth and final attempt, Brewer was one of four athletes to earn a mark of more than 19.00 meters. Today's throw would be No. 4 in program history if he weren't already at No. 3.
Three Boilermakers qualified for the finals in the men's 200, and Purdue placed fourth, fifth and sixth. Moore was fourth, in 20.68, Colebrooke finished fifth in 20.69 and Dotson was sixth, in 20.79. All three times were wind-aided (2.4). If not for the wind, Colebrooke and Moore's marks would rank among the top-10-fastest in school history if they didn't already hold faster times, while, Dotson's time also would be in the top-10 and a personal-best.
A pair of freshmen advanced to the 400-meter hurdle final and notched personal-best times in Sunday's final. Anna Maria Leszczynska was fifth, in 58.94, and Talley placed ninth in 1:00.04.
Along with her bronze medal in the 4x100, Christopher notched two sixth-place finishes individually. For the second time this weekend, she improved her top-10 time in Purdue history in the 200, thanks to time of 23.61, tied for fifth-fastest all-time. Earlier in the day in the 100, Christopher finished in 11.73. That would rank No. 10 in the record books, but she already holds the No. 6 spot.
Miller and Williams complimented their silver medal in the 4x400 with individual top-eight finishes in the 400. Miller ran a season-best time of 53.67 to finish sixth. Her time would be No. 10 in team history if she weren't already fifth. Williams was eighth in 53.73.
Junior Curt Eckstein capped a strong weekend for the Boilermaker distance runners with a time of 13:57.99 to finish sixth in the 5,000. His mark would be fourth all-time if he weren't' already No. 2 in the record books.
Talley ran in two individual finals, where she was eighth in the 100 hurdles, in 15.58, and ninth in the 400 hurdles, with a PR of 1:00.04.
The men concluded the meet with the 4x400, where they were eighth in 3:10.99 thanks to junior Amir Harris, Dotson, Becker and freshman Jabari Bryant.
Additionally, senior Joey Humes (14:33.93 in the 5,000) and freshman Vinajah Adderley (11.67m in the triple jump) added personal-best marks on Sunday.
"Coming out of this meet, we did a really good job of augmenting our list of regional qualifiers," Elliott said. "Coming into the competition, we just had a handful, but all-in-all, we certainly moved up quite a bit. Overall, it was a well-fought fight for us, and we knew going in it would be a bit of a challenge on the women's side, but we're young and the future looks really bright. We thought we would do just a little better on the men's side, but the injury bug kind of hit us. However, we finished with a decent showing with the sixth-place finish."
Up next, qualifying student-athletes will compete at the NCAA East Regionals, from May 26-29, in Jacksonville, Florida. The complete list of qualifiers will be announced next week.
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.
The Boilermakers won six medals, two golds, two silvers and two bronzes, and recorded 19 top-eight finishes on the final day of competition at Illinois' Gary R. Wieneke Track at Demirjian Park. Purdue also had five top-10 marks in school history and set nine career-bests on Sunday.
In total at the three-day conference championship meet, Purdue won two events and had 25 top-eight podium finishes, including six in the top three. Two school records were broken and 14 top-10 times in program history were set. The Boilermakers totaled 34 personal-record marks.
"First, I want to commend our men's team for putting up a really good, strong fight," Purdue coach Norbert Elliott said. "We went into this competition thinking that we could be in the top three, but we really had some mishaps, and so, when you lose firepower, it's just hard to compete. But, our athletes definitely put up a good battle, a good fight, and gave a good showing for that sixth-place finish. We had some really good performances, had a couple of school records, a few top-10 marks and many personal-best marks, so all in all it was a really good, strong effort on the men's side."
Greene and the men's 4x100 relay team of seniors Samson Colebrooke and Malcolm Dotson, sophomore Justin Becker and freshman Marcellus Moore were recognized on the All-Big Ten First Team as Big Ten champions, while senior Samara Miller and freshmen Saran Kouyeth, K'Ja Talley and Cierra Williams were named to the All-Big Ten Second Team as runners-up.
The Purdue men finished sixth overall with 67 points. The Boilermakers were just six points shy of a top-four finish, as seven points separated fourth through seventh place. Iowa won the conference title with 127.5 points. The Boilermaker women placed 10th with 41.5 points, while Ohio State won with 117 points.
"We have a very young women's team, so the future looks really bright," Elliott said. "We have to fill in some missing pieces, but I'm very pleased that many of our freshmen and sophomore athletes were in the thick of things in this conference and representing the Old Gold and Black very, very well."
Greene won his fifth career Big Ten medal and third gold medal, as he defended his triple jump title from 2019. The junior had a winning jump of 16.11 meters, which came on his fourth attempt. The mark would rank No. 6 in program history if Greene didn't already hold the No. 5 spot.
The Boilermakers have won three of the last four Big Ten outdoor triple jump title, as Greene is joined by Anaquan Peterson, the 2017 gold medalist. Greene's latest conference championship comes after he won gold in the triple jump and 4x100 relay outdoors in 2019, and he also has a silver and bronze in the triple jump indoors.
"I want to commend Tamar, he had to jump with a wrist brace on, and today's performance just shows the kind of talent and downright guts and fortitude that he has," Elliott said. "He fought to defend his title, and, in fact, he has one more year to go, and he has a chance to be a three-time champion in the triple jump. That was really, really good to see today."
Purdue's first gold medal of the day came in the opening event on the track, the men's 4x100, as the Boilermakers finished in 39.30. Colebrooke Dotson, Becker and Moore ran the fourth-fastest time in Purdue history and won by 0.37 seconds.
The relay squad defended its Big Ten title from 2019 and won its fourth gold in the event since it was first contested in 1979.
Purdue's 4x100 performance proved to be the first of several strong races by the men's sprinters.
"I was happy with the improved time in the men's 4x100 to win that event, which bodes well for the NCAA Regionals and our chances of advancing to the NCAA Championships," Elliott added. "When you lose someone like (senior sprinter) Waseem Williams, that really hurts. He's a 100-meter Big Ten champion, and that's 10 points that're hard to make up. All in all, I was quite pleased with the performances, particularly today. Marcellus Moore and Sampson Colebrook in the 100, and then with the addition of Malcolm Dotson in the 200, they all gave a good showing."
Colebrooke was second in the 100 in 10.30, just 0.04 seconds behind the winner. His time would rank No. 5 in school history if he weren't already third. Moore was fifth in the 100, in 10.35 seconds, which is eighth-fastest in the Purdue record books.
Both women's relay teams won medals with top-10 times in program history, as the 4x400 was second and the 4x100 placed third.
In the final event of the day, the 4x400 finished in 3:33.70 to win silver. The fifth-fastest time in school history was run by Talley, Williams, Kouyeth and Miller.
The 4x100 relay squad claimed bronze in 44.69, which ranks No. 8 in the Purdue record books. Kouyeth, Talley, freshman Naomi Campbell and sophomore Camille Christopher earned the third-place finish by nearly 0.40 seconds and ran the fastest time by a Boilermaker team since 2018.
Sophomore Alexis Zatta won bronze in the high jump. She earned a mark of 1.76 meters on a clearance on her second attempt. Zatta's Big Ten medal is her second in 2021, after she won gold at the indoor conference meet in February.
"Our women's 4x100 relay, we were nowhere in sight, and moved up quite a bit during the race," Elliott said. Our women's 4x400, Alexis Zatta in the high jump and a couple in the 400, Samira Miller and Cierra Williams, did really well today. Across the board, we've added to our list of regional qualifiers."
Junior Jalil Brewer advanced to the final in the shot put and earned a fourth-place finish. With a throw of 19.57 meters on his sixth and final attempt, Brewer was one of four athletes to earn a mark of more than 19.00 meters. Today's throw would be No. 4 in program history if he weren't already at No. 3.
Three Boilermakers qualified for the finals in the men's 200, and Purdue placed fourth, fifth and sixth. Moore was fourth, in 20.68, Colebrooke finished fifth in 20.69 and Dotson was sixth, in 20.79. All three times were wind-aided (2.4). If not for the wind, Colebrooke and Moore's marks would rank among the top-10-fastest in school history if they didn't already hold faster times, while, Dotson's time also would be in the top-10 and a personal-best.
A pair of freshmen advanced to the 400-meter hurdle final and notched personal-best times in Sunday's final. Anna Maria Leszczynska was fifth, in 58.94, and Talley placed ninth in 1:00.04.
Along with her bronze medal in the 4x100, Christopher notched two sixth-place finishes individually. For the second time this weekend, she improved her top-10 time in Purdue history in the 200, thanks to time of 23.61, tied for fifth-fastest all-time. Earlier in the day in the 100, Christopher finished in 11.73. That would rank No. 10 in the record books, but she already holds the No. 6 spot.
Miller and Williams complimented their silver medal in the 4x400 with individual top-eight finishes in the 400. Miller ran a season-best time of 53.67 to finish sixth. Her time would be No. 10 in team history if she weren't already fifth. Williams was eighth in 53.73.
Junior Curt Eckstein capped a strong weekend for the Boilermaker distance runners with a time of 13:57.99 to finish sixth in the 5,000. His mark would be fourth all-time if he weren't' already No. 2 in the record books.
Talley ran in two individual finals, where she was eighth in the 100 hurdles, in 15.58, and ninth in the 400 hurdles, with a PR of 1:00.04.
The men concluded the meet with the 4x400, where they were eighth in 3:10.99 thanks to junior Amir Harris, Dotson, Becker and freshman Jabari Bryant.
Additionally, senior Joey Humes (14:33.93 in the 5,000) and freshman Vinajah Adderley (11.67m in the triple jump) added personal-best marks on Sunday.
"Coming out of this meet, we did a really good job of augmenting our list of regional qualifiers," Elliott said. "Coming into the competition, we just had a handful, but all-in-all, we certainly moved up quite a bit. Overall, it was a well-fought fight for us, and we knew going in it would be a bit of a challenge on the women's side, but we're young and the future looks really bright. We thought we would do just a little better on the men's side, but the injury bug kind of hit us. However, we finished with a decent showing with the sixth-place finish."
Up next, qualifying student-athletes will compete at the NCAA East Regionals, from May 26-29, in Jacksonville, Florida. The complete list of qualifiers will be announced next week.
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.