GENEVA, Ohio – Two medals highlighted the second and final day of the 2024 Big Ten Indoor Track & Field Championships on Saturday for the Purdue track & field team at the Spire Institute in Geneva, Ohio.
Junior Praise Aniamaka was the runner-up in the triple jump and graduate student Cameron Miller was third in the 200-meter. Those were two of six podium finishes for the Boilermakers on Saturday. The duo were joined by freshman Jasiah Rogers, fifth in the 60m, the seventh-place men's 4x400 and juniors Zoe Sullivan and Brett Otterbacher, who were eighth in the 60m hurdles and 400m, respectively.
Purdue totaled nine top-eight podium finishes at the two-day conference championships, as sophomore Bryanna Craig took second in the pentathlon on Friday to join Aniamaka and Miller as medalists. Six top-10 marks in school history were achieved this weekend as the Boilermakers posted 15 personal records and 11 season bests.
Aniamaka won silver in the triple jump with a season-best mark of 15.96 meters. He earned his fourth career Big Ten medal to go along with gold outdoors in 2023 and bronze indoors in 2022 and 2023, all in the triple jump. Aniamaka was in third place after his third attempt of 15.83m, and he remained there until his final jump, when he moved up one spot by a margin of 0.10m. Aniamaka's mark is No. 14 in the NCAA this season.
Miller ran the final of the 200m in 20.82 seconds to collect his first Big Ten podium finish and sixth career conference medal. He posted the fastest time in the first of two sections and ended up being one of three runners to break 21.00 seconds. Today's bronze medal is the third career individual medal Miller has won, all indoors in the 200m, along with gold at the 2023 ACC meet and silver at the 2022 SEC event.
Rogers capped his first indoor campaign with a fifth-place showing in the 60m final. He reached the podium thanks to a time of 6.74 seconds and edged out the sixth-place runner by 0.001 seconds.
The men's 4x400 relay concluded the weekend in seventh place with a time of 3:10.93. It was a tightly contested finish, as sixth through eighth place were separated by just 0.02 seconds. The result came as the foursome of senior Jahn Riley, sophomores Connor Czajkowski and Nolan Macklin and freshman Nickens Lemba ran together in a relay for the first time.
Sullivan crossed the finish line in eighth place in the 60m hurdle final with a time of 8.35. At her first Big Ten meet, she reached the podium for the fifth time in her career after four top-eight finishes at Missouri Valley championships. Sullivan's time came after she ran the second-fastest mark in school history in Friday's prelims, with a finish of 8.24 seconds.
Otterbacher also notched an eighth-place finish on Saturday, in the 400m. He earned his third career trip to the podium at Big Tens and second individually. He also moved up to No. 2 in the Boilermaker record books yesterday courtesy of a 46.83 in the prelims.
Also on Saturday, personal-bests were recorded by senior Logan Sandlin (heptathlon 1,000m, 2:39.15) and freshmen Lee Martin (high jump, 2.06m, T-PR) and Kaden Stewart (high jump, 2.06m). Senior Payne Turney ran a season-best in the 3,000m (9:43.33).
On Friday to open the championships, Craig was joined on the podium by junior Jalen Elrod, who was sixth in the pentathlon, and sophomore Collin Kao, who placed eighth in the pole vault. Elrod was one of six Boilermakers to post a record-book mark, and she had three of the team's 12 PRs and one of nine season bests registered on the first day.
Up next, qualifying Boilermakers will compete at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships from March 8-9 in Boston. The NCAA field will be announced following all of the conference championship meets.
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.
Junior Praise Aniamaka was the runner-up in the triple jump and graduate student Cameron Miller was third in the 200-meter. Those were two of six podium finishes for the Boilermakers on Saturday. The duo were joined by freshman Jasiah Rogers, fifth in the 60m, the seventh-place men's 4x400 and juniors Zoe Sullivan and Brett Otterbacher, who were eighth in the 60m hurdles and 400m, respectively.
Purdue totaled nine top-eight podium finishes at the two-day conference championships, as sophomore Bryanna Craig took second in the pentathlon on Friday to join Aniamaka and Miller as medalists. Six top-10 marks in school history were achieved this weekend as the Boilermakers posted 15 personal records and 11 season bests.
Aniamaka won silver in the triple jump with a season-best mark of 15.96 meters. He earned his fourth career Big Ten medal to go along with gold outdoors in 2023 and bronze indoors in 2022 and 2023, all in the triple jump. Aniamaka was in third place after his third attempt of 15.83m, and he remained there until his final jump, when he moved up one spot by a margin of 0.10m. Aniamaka's mark is No. 14 in the NCAA this season.
Miller ran the final of the 200m in 20.82 seconds to collect his first Big Ten podium finish and sixth career conference medal. He posted the fastest time in the first of two sections and ended up being one of three runners to break 21.00 seconds. Today's bronze medal is the third career individual medal Miller has won, all indoors in the 200m, along with gold at the 2023 ACC meet and silver at the 2022 SEC event.
Rogers capped his first indoor campaign with a fifth-place showing in the 60m final. He reached the podium thanks to a time of 6.74 seconds and edged out the sixth-place runner by 0.001 seconds.
The men's 4x400 relay concluded the weekend in seventh place with a time of 3:10.93. It was a tightly contested finish, as sixth through eighth place were separated by just 0.02 seconds. The result came as the foursome of senior Jahn Riley, sophomores Connor Czajkowski and Nolan Macklin and freshman Nickens Lemba ran together in a relay for the first time.
Sullivan crossed the finish line in eighth place in the 60m hurdle final with a time of 8.35. At her first Big Ten meet, she reached the podium for the fifth time in her career after four top-eight finishes at Missouri Valley championships. Sullivan's time came after she ran the second-fastest mark in school history in Friday's prelims, with a finish of 8.24 seconds.
Otterbacher also notched an eighth-place finish on Saturday, in the 400m. He earned his third career trip to the podium at Big Tens and second individually. He also moved up to No. 2 in the Boilermaker record books yesterday courtesy of a 46.83 in the prelims.
Also on Saturday, personal-bests were recorded by senior Logan Sandlin (heptathlon 1,000m, 2:39.15) and freshmen Lee Martin (high jump, 2.06m, T-PR) and Kaden Stewart (high jump, 2.06m). Senior Payne Turney ran a season-best in the 3,000m (9:43.33).
On Friday to open the championships, Craig was joined on the podium by junior Jalen Elrod, who was sixth in the pentathlon, and sophomore Collin Kao, who placed eighth in the pole vault. Elrod was one of six Boilermakers to post a record-book mark, and she had three of the team's 12 PRs and one of nine season bests registered on the first day.
Up next, qualifying Boilermakers will compete at the NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships from March 8-9 in Boston. The NCAA field will be announced following all of the conference championship meets.
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.