WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Fourteen wins and eight top-10 times in school history fueled a strong start to the 2023-24 indoor season for the Purdue track & field team at the Edmonds-Wilt Invitational on Saturday.
At their annual home meet in Lambert Fieldhouse, the Boilermakers benefited from numerous contributions from newcomers, as eight of the 14 victories came from athletes making their collegiate or Purdue debuts on Saturday. Seven of eight record-book times were by runners wearing the Old Gold and Black uniform for the first time.
Freshmen Jasiah Rogers and Nia Wilson combined for four of Purdue's top-10 times in school history, as they each wrote their names in the record book in the prelims of the 60-meter and then notched faster times in the finals. Junior Brett Otterbacher moved up in the 500m, and freshmen Nickens Lemba and Alexia Smith also each entered the top-10 list in that event. Junior Zoe Sullivan posted the first record-book time of the day in the 60m hurdles in her inaugural race as a Boilermaker.
Otterbacher, Rogers, Smith and Sullivan all earned their top-10 times while also winning their events.
"I thought this was a very good meet for us," Purdue coach Norbert Elliott said. "We had a lot of outside stresses heading into finals next week, so for the team to be able to come out and get so many top-10 performances was really magnificent. Overall, I was really, really pleased with the performances. I'm really excited for the start of season, we're looking pretty good."
In his first collegiate race, Rogers ran the 60m in 6.72 to enter the school record books at No. 10. He automatically moved on to the finals, where he improved his time by 0.02 seconds. With a winning time of 6.70 seconds, Rogers moved up into a tie for eighth in program history. He bested sophomore teammate Connor Czajkowski, who was second in the final in 6.81 seconds. Czajkowski ran a PR in the final, which bested his PR of 6.86 set in the prelim.
Wilson also posted a pair of record book times. It began with a 7.49 in the 60m prelims, as she debuted on the all-time list at No. 10. Wilson's collegiate-debut day continued in the final with a time of 7.44, which moved her into a tie for No. 7 in team history. She was second overall in the final.
The first event on the track was the 60m hurdle prelims, where Sullivan finished in 8.46 seconds, the 10th-fastest time in school history. She automatically qualified for the final where, an hour later, she picked up her first win in a Purdue uniform with a time of 8.49. The victory came by 0.22 seconds.
Smith also had a noteworthy collegiate debut, as she won the 500m in 1:12.06 to check in at No. 3 in the record books. As she won by more than 3.60 seconds, Smith posted the fastest time by a Boilermaker in the event since 2016. Sophomore teammate Jaylie Lohmeyer was second in 1:15.71.
Otterbacher entered the day at No. 7 in school history in the 500m and moved up to No. 2 on Saturday. His winning time of 1:02.50 is 1.40 seconds faster than the season-opening mark from a year ago and the fastest time by a Purdue runner since the record was set in 2018. Just behind Otterbacher in second place was Lemba, who crossed the finish line with a time of 1:04.36 in his debut. That put Lemba at No. 10 on the all-time list, as he joins Otterbacher as the only two Boilermakers to run a top-10 time in the event since 2018.
The Boilermakers swept two events on Saturday, the mile and 3,000m. Purdue notched a 1-2 finish in both the men's and women's mile competitions, thanks to senior Alex Frey and freshman Julia Economou. Frey paced the men with a mark of 4:16.64 and Economou led the women in 5:10.30 as she made her indoor collegiate debut. Just behind Frey and Economou were senior Joey Kasch (4:32.53) and sophomore Sarah Maggio (5:13.15) in second place.
The 3,000m sweep came courtesy of grad student Ian Hunter and freshman Sofia Muñoz. Hunter picked up the win in 8:46.10 and Muñoz was victorious in 10:31.25. Muñoz was making her indoor collegiate debut and led a 1-2-3 finish for the women, as fellow first-years Samantha Jacobi (2nd, 10:35.27) and Abigail Jacobi (3rd, 10:37.25) put on the Purdue uniform for the first time on Saturday.
Just before the 3,000m was the 300m, where senior Jahn Riley notched the win in 34.93. He was ahead of freshman teammate Nolan Macklin, whose first race ended with a runner-up time of 35.29.
Sophomore Jalen Elrod made her Purdue debut on Saturday and won the 600m. She finished in 1:36.24, 1.11 seconds ahead of fellow sophomore Bryanna Craig's 1:37.35.
One of the first events of the day was the pole vault, where junior Grant Gogel won the event with a clearance of 5.01 meters. The personal-best mark is the best by a Boilermaker in the event – both indoors and outdoors – since 2015, as Gogel is the only pole vaulter from Purdue to surpass 4.90m in eight seasons. Senior teammate Logan Sandlin was second with a mark of 4.81m for a personal-best.
The Purdue men won both the long jump and triple jump. First was senior LJ Hill's win in the long jump, with a mark of 7.29m on his third jump. Freshman James Ammenhauser began his career with a triple jump victory on a jump of 14.43m on his fourth attempt.
Freshman Bode Gilkerson picked up the final win of the day for Purdue. In the high jump, he cleared 2.07m to be victorious in his first meet. Freshman Andreas Hantson, who debuted with a three-event day, was second on misses, as he also cleared 2.07m.
Additionally, Sandlin (60m hurdles, 8.58-PR and 600m, 1:24.17-PR), junior Rieko Wilford (long jump, 5.60m), sophomore John Hanson (shot put, 15.88m) and freshman Melissa Riegle (pole vault, 3.75m) also earned runner-up finishes on Saturday. Riegle's came in her first collegiate meet.
Personal-bests also were achieved by Elrod (60m hurdles, 8.79), junior Cale Ayers (weight throw, 19.21m) and sophomores Rebecca Caliendo (weight throw, 16.90m), Kylie Stauder (pole vault, 3.65m)
Collegiate debuts also were made by sophomore Allyson Elsbury (60m hurdles, 9.09 and 9.31; shot put, 10.25m; 600m, 1:43.65) and freshmen Angeline Amefia (high jump, 1.58m; 60m hurdles, 9.02 and 9.10; 600m, 1:39.93), Livia Binder (pole vault, 3.05m), Kolby Haecker (high jump, 1.92m), Jada Lee (60m, 7.81 and 7.76), Lainey Mack (pole vault, 3.35m), Lee Martin (high jump, 2.02m) and Alyssa Tate (60m, 7.68; 300m, 42.45).
Sophomore Collin Kao (pole vault, 4.71m) also made his Purdue debut.
Following a month-long break for the holidays, the Boilermakers open the new year in Chicago at the Badgers Midwest Invitational on January 13, 2024. The third-annual meet will be held at the Track & Field Center at Gately Park and is the first of two trips to the Windy City for Purdue this season.
For more on the Purdue track & field and cross country program, visit PurdueSports.com/TrackField and follow and connect with the Boilermakers on Twitter/X, Instagram and Facebook.
At their annual home meet in Lambert Fieldhouse, the Boilermakers benefited from numerous contributions from newcomers, as eight of the 14 victories came from athletes making their collegiate or Purdue debuts on Saturday. Seven of eight record-book times were by runners wearing the Old Gold and Black uniform for the first time.
Freshmen Jasiah Rogers and Nia Wilson combined for four of Purdue's top-10 times in school history, as they each wrote their names in the record book in the prelims of the 60-meter and then notched faster times in the finals. Junior Brett Otterbacher moved up in the 500m, and freshmen Nickens Lemba and Alexia Smith also each entered the top-10 list in that event. Junior Zoe Sullivan posted the first record-book time of the day in the 60m hurdles in her inaugural race as a Boilermaker.
Otterbacher, Rogers, Smith and Sullivan all earned their top-10 times while also winning their events.
"I thought this was a very good meet for us," Purdue coach Norbert Elliott said. "We had a lot of outside stresses heading into finals next week, so for the team to be able to come out and get so many top-10 performances was really magnificent. Overall, I was really, really pleased with the performances. I'm really excited for the start of season, we're looking pretty good."
In his first collegiate race, Rogers ran the 60m in 6.72 to enter the school record books at No. 10. He automatically moved on to the finals, where he improved his time by 0.02 seconds. With a winning time of 6.70 seconds, Rogers moved up into a tie for eighth in program history. He bested sophomore teammate Connor Czajkowski, who was second in the final in 6.81 seconds. Czajkowski ran a PR in the final, which bested his PR of 6.86 set in the prelim.
Wilson also posted a pair of record book times. It began with a 7.49 in the 60m prelims, as she debuted on the all-time list at No. 10. Wilson's collegiate-debut day continued in the final with a time of 7.44, which moved her into a tie for No. 7 in team history. She was second overall in the final.
The first event on the track was the 60m hurdle prelims, where Sullivan finished in 8.46 seconds, the 10th-fastest time in school history. She automatically qualified for the final where, an hour later, she picked up her first win in a Purdue uniform with a time of 8.49. The victory came by 0.22 seconds.
Smith also had a noteworthy collegiate debut, as she won the 500m in 1:12.06 to check in at No. 3 in the record books. As she won by more than 3.60 seconds, Smith posted the fastest time by a Boilermaker in the event since 2016. Sophomore teammate Jaylie Lohmeyer was second in 1:15.71.
Otterbacher entered the day at No. 7 in school history in the 500m and moved up to No. 2 on Saturday. His winning time of 1:02.50 is 1.40 seconds faster than the season-opening mark from a year ago and the fastest time by a Purdue runner since the record was set in 2018. Just behind Otterbacher in second place was Lemba, who crossed the finish line with a time of 1:04.36 in his debut. That put Lemba at No. 10 on the all-time list, as he joins Otterbacher as the only two Boilermakers to run a top-10 time in the event since 2018.
The Boilermakers swept two events on Saturday, the mile and 3,000m. Purdue notched a 1-2 finish in both the men's and women's mile competitions, thanks to senior Alex Frey and freshman Julia Economou. Frey paced the men with a mark of 4:16.64 and Economou led the women in 5:10.30 as she made her indoor collegiate debut. Just behind Frey and Economou were senior Joey Kasch (4:32.53) and sophomore Sarah Maggio (5:13.15) in second place.
The 3,000m sweep came courtesy of grad student Ian Hunter and freshman Sofia Muñoz. Hunter picked up the win in 8:46.10 and Muñoz was victorious in 10:31.25. Muñoz was making her indoor collegiate debut and led a 1-2-3 finish for the women, as fellow first-years Samantha Jacobi (2nd, 10:35.27) and Abigail Jacobi (3rd, 10:37.25) put on the Purdue uniform for the first time on Saturday.
Just before the 3,000m was the 300m, where senior Jahn Riley notched the win in 34.93. He was ahead of freshman teammate Nolan Macklin, whose first race ended with a runner-up time of 35.29.
Sophomore Jalen Elrod made her Purdue debut on Saturday and won the 600m. She finished in 1:36.24, 1.11 seconds ahead of fellow sophomore Bryanna Craig's 1:37.35.
One of the first events of the day was the pole vault, where junior Grant Gogel won the event with a clearance of 5.01 meters. The personal-best mark is the best by a Boilermaker in the event – both indoors and outdoors – since 2015, as Gogel is the only pole vaulter from Purdue to surpass 4.90m in eight seasons. Senior teammate Logan Sandlin was second with a mark of 4.81m for a personal-best.
The Purdue men won both the long jump and triple jump. First was senior LJ Hill's win in the long jump, with a mark of 7.29m on his third jump. Freshman James Ammenhauser began his career with a triple jump victory on a jump of 14.43m on his fourth attempt.
Freshman Bode Gilkerson picked up the final win of the day for Purdue. In the high jump, he cleared 2.07m to be victorious in his first meet. Freshman Andreas Hantson, who debuted with a three-event day, was second on misses, as he also cleared 2.07m.
Additionally, Sandlin (60m hurdles, 8.58-PR and 600m, 1:24.17-PR), junior Rieko Wilford (long jump, 5.60m), sophomore John Hanson (shot put, 15.88m) and freshman Melissa Riegle (pole vault, 3.75m) also earned runner-up finishes on Saturday. Riegle's came in her first collegiate meet.
Personal-bests also were achieved by Elrod (60m hurdles, 8.79), junior Cale Ayers (weight throw, 19.21m) and sophomores Rebecca Caliendo (weight throw, 16.90m), Kylie Stauder (pole vault, 3.65m)
Collegiate debuts also were made by sophomore Allyson Elsbury (60m hurdles, 9.09 and 9.31; shot put, 10.25m; 600m, 1:43.65) and freshmen Angeline Amefia (high jump, 1.58m; 60m hurdles, 9.02 and 9.10; 600m, 1:39.93), Livia Binder (pole vault, 3.05m), Kolby Haecker (high jump, 1.92m), Jada Lee (60m, 7.81 and 7.76), Lainey Mack (pole vault, 3.35m), Lee Martin (high jump, 2.02m) and Alyssa Tate (60m, 7.68; 300m, 42.45).
Sophomore Collin Kao (pole vault, 4.71m) also made his Purdue debut.
Following a month-long break for the holidays, the Boilermakers open the new year in Chicago at the Badgers Midwest Invitational on January 13, 2024. The third-annual meet will be held at the Track & Field Center at Gately Park and is the first of two trips to the Windy City for Purdue this season.
For more on the Purdue track & field and cross country program, visit PurdueSports.com/TrackField and follow and connect with the Boilermakers on Twitter/X, Instagram and Facebook.