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Feb. 22, 2008
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue men's and women's track and field teams enter their final meet before the Big Ten Indoor Championships, hosting the Boilermaker Invitational on Saturday. Action is set to begin at 11 a.m. with the women's weight throw, pole vault and long jump, while running events are set for 1:00 p.m. with the women's one-mile run. The meet is set to feature several local schools, including Indiana-Fort Wayne, the University of Indianapolis and Goshen College. Most teams, including the Boilermakers will use Saturday as a final warm-up before their conference championships. The Purdue men have four national qualifiers to date, and hope to add a few more this weekend. Senior Jh'Rome Tuggle, sophomore Jon Pullum and freshmen Josh Hembrough and Shane Crawford have all eclipsed the NCAA provisional standard in their respective events, earning the Boilermakers a No. 47 national ranking, and climbing seven spots in the standings this week. The four have all achieved top-five marks in school history this season, including Crawford matching the school record in the 60-meter dash and Hembrough tying the second-fastest 60-meter hurdles time at Purdue. The list of national qualifiers on the women's side grew to five last weekend as junior Mallory Peck and sophomore Ashlee Lengacher joined seniors Leah Kincaid and Astin Steward and sophomore Stacey Wannemacher. Peck exploded in the pole vault, clearing 4.16 meters (13-07.75) to earn the top mark in the conference and the fifth-best in the NCAA, while Lengacher continued axing seconds off her previous personal record in the 800-meter run, clocking the fifth-fastest time in school history at 2:08.75. The group has accounted for a No. 29 national ranking, jumping four spots in this week's standings.
Kincaid and Steward are on the verge of NCAA automatic qualification in all their events as Kincaid is a tenth of a second short of the automatic standard in the 60-meter hurdles and 0.17 meters off the long jump mark, while Steward is a matching 0.17 meters shy of the automatic weight throw distance. However, neither is scheduled to compete Saturday in preparation for the conference championships. As both squads wind down the indoor season, a few more competitors on both the men's and women's sides look to add their name to the list of nationally elite. Senior Tyler Miller and freshman Billy Hardcastle are on the doorstep of the men's shot put standard, looking to surpass the mark of 17.75 meters (58-03.00) today. Miller is currently fourth in the Big Ten standings with a career-best mark of 17.64 meters (57-10.50), while Hardcastle is sixth at 17.33 meters (56-10.25). Junior Ben Harpenau looks to lock in on the men's weight throw provisional mark after finishing just 31 centimeters short last weekend at 19.19 meters (62-11.50). Fellow junior Nolan Petties has extended his indoor career-best in the men's long jump in each of the last few weeks, pushing the mark to 7.38 meters (24-02.50) at the Iowa State Classic last weekend. He's just 12 centimeters shy of the national standard, but holds the second-best leap in the conference this season. Sophomores Adetayo Adesanya and Lance Moe have their sights set on clearing seven feet in the men's high jump as both are within two inches of the mark this season. Adesanya is tied for third in the conference at 2.11 meters (6-11.00), and Moe is tied for sixth at 2.09 meters (6-10.25). Several of the men's pole vaulters, including 2007 NCAA Outdoor qualifier Eric Sparks, are within reach of the provisional height of 5.20 meters (17-00.25). Hoping to make some last minute additions to the NCAA women's list are sophomores Christina Madison, Brianna Neumann and Kristin Phillips, and freshman Kristina Krasich. Madison aspires to hit the provisionals in both the women's triple and long jumps, while Phillips and Krasich are both just shy of the national standard in the women's one-mile run. Neumann looks to eclipse her season-best pole vault mark of 3.85 meters (12-07.75), and position herself to clear the national standard of 3.95 meters and more. Live results are scheduled to be available at www.purduesports.com and www.deltatiming.com. For a schedule of tomorrow's events visit here. |
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