Purdue senior Jh'Rome Tuggle hopes to snag his second Big Ten Championship of the year this weekend.

May 15, 2008

Big Ten Championship Media Notes

2008 Men's Entries

2008 Women's Entries

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue men's and women's track and field teams have their sights set on Big Ten gold this weekend as they head to the University of Illinois for the conference outdoor championships.

The Purdue men are coming off their third second-place finish in school history at the 2008 Big Ten Indoor Championships and hope to vie for their first conference crown in school history this weekend. The Boilermakers feature the conference's top mark in four events and are ranked in the top-five in seven others.

Sophomore Jonathan Pullum headlines the group as the defending Big Ten Champion in the discus and the 2008 Big Ten Men's Indoor Field Athlete of the Year. His top mark of 56.65 meters (185-10) is the best in the conference by more than two meters and is the third best in Purdue's history. Supporting Pullum in the discus and ranking third in the conference in the shot put is freshman Billy Hardcastle. He owns the sixth-best discus mark at 52.14 meters (171-01) and has the nation's top freshman shot put mark at 18.20 meters (59-08.50).

Pullum will also look to pick up points in the hammer throw, where he took seventh a year ago, but junior teammate Ben Harpenau owns the Big Ten's top mark at 64.23 meters (210-09). Harpenau placed third at the conference championships in 2007, and looks to go a little higher on the podium this year. Also trying to jump in on the party in the hammer throw is senior Tyler Miller, who has a season-best mark of 56.60 meters (185-08). Miller carries the Big Ten's sixth-highest shot put mark as well, hurling it 17.67 meters (57-11.75) at the Spec Towns National Team Invitational.

Rookie Josh Hembrough hopes to double up on Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors, earning the indoor award after a first-place showing in the 60-meter hurdles, and boasting the fastest 110-meter hurdle time through this year's outdoor season. Hembrough earned Big Ten Track Athlete of the Week honors and won the Arizona State Invitational with his career-best time of 13.88 at the outdoor season-opening meet. Senior Brian Kaluf is having a career-season in the hurdle events as well, ranking fourth in the Big Ten in both the 110- and 400-meter hurdles. He's shaved his career-best mark in the 110-hurdles to 14.08, and lowered his 400-hurdle time to 52.09.

Sophomore Adetayo Adesanya is tied for the Big Ten lead in the high jump, clearing 2.14 meters (7-00.25) at the Dave Rankin Invitational. Adesanya won the event at the 2008 indoor conference championships and took home fourth outdoors a year ago. Classmate Lance Moe is nipping at his heels in the event, clearing 2.10 meters (6-10.75) several times to share fourth in the conference standings. Moe placed fourth at the 2008 Big Ten Indoor Championships, seventh indoors in 2007, and fifth outdoors in 2007. Junior Chris Kirkwood hopes to repeat his performance at this season's indoor championships, where he surprised the field with a seventh-place finish and career-best mark of 2.08 meters (6-08.75).

The Boilermakers are set to field a small army in the men's pole vault, led by sophomore Eric Sparks's career-best mark of 5.30 meters (17-04.50). His height is the second-best in the Big Ten this year, and owns a head-to-head victory over conference leader Jeff Coover of Indiana, beating him in a jump off at the Jesse Owens Track Classic. Senior Andrew Rademacher, junior Ben Pax and freshman Chris Thoman share the conference's fifth-best height, all clearing 5.05 meters (16-06.75). The Old Gold and Black took home a pair of placings in this year's indoor championships and last year's outdoor meet, and hope to up the ante this weekend and run away with a slew of points.

Junior Nolan Petties stands among the Big Ten elite in the long jump and triple jump, holding the conference's third-longest mark in both events. Petties posted career-best marks in both events at the Spec Towns National Team Invitational, leaping 7.59 meters (24-11.00) in the long jump and bouncing 15.45 meters (50-08.25) in the triple jump.

Senior Jim Schwingendorf is fifth in the conference in the javelin throw, hurling a career-best mark of 62.12 meters (203-10) to open this year's outdoor season. Sophomore Steve Carlson hopes to jump up into the mix as well after an eighth-place showing at the Big Ten Championships a year ago.

Senior Jh'Rome Tuggle and freshman Shane Crawford hope to add some more team points in the sprints this weekend as Tuggle boasts the fifth-fastest time in the conference in the 200-meter dash, while Crawford hopes to emerge from an injury to climb into the finals. Tuggle won this year's 200-meter indoor crown, and placed second a year ago at the outdoor conference meet. Crawford has run just once this season, gliding through a race at the Jesse Owens Classic, but owns a career-best time of 10.33 at last summer's Pan-American Junior Games, in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

The Purdue women will challenge for several Big Ten titles, especially in the field events, as they look to finish in the upper half of the conference standings for the first time since 2002. Senior Leah Kincaid looks for her first career Big Ten Championship, carrying the conference's best long jump this season in tow. She's fractured her own school record in the event twice this season, once as she won the Championship of America at the Penn Relays and again to place second at the Jesse Owens Track Classic with a mark of 6.37 meters (20-10.75). Kincaid also holds the conference's sixth-fastest time in the 100-meter hurdles, posting a time of 13.43 at the Penn Relays.

Sophomore Christina Madison hopes to follow Kincaid in the women's jumps events, while junior Ranay Harvey looks for points in the hurdles. Madison rests just outside the conference's top-eight in the long jump with a season-best mark of 6.08 meters (19-11.25), but holds the Big Ten's No. 5 leap in the triple jump with her career-best distance of 12.55 meters (41-02.25). Harvey clocked a career-best time of 13.59 seconds at the in the 100-meter hurdles at the Jesse Owens Track Classic to earn the conference's eighth fastest time, and sits ninth in the 400-meter hurdles at 1:00.79.

Junior Kara Patterson will vie for her second career Big Ten title in the javelin throw, currently holding the second-best toss in the conference and third-best mark in the nation at 56.10 meters (184-01). Along with Minnesota's Ruby Radocaj, Patterson is one of four athletes in NCAA Division I to secure a trip to the 2008 United States Olympic Trials, surpassing the trial's "A" standard of 54.50 meters.

Senior Astin Steward and sophomore Stacey Wannemacher hold the Boilermakers' hopes in the rest of the throws events, ranking among the conference elite in the discus, hammer throw and shot put. Steward is the defending Big Ten discus champion and took the bronze in the hammer throw in 2007, boasting season-best marks of 52.57 meters (172-06) and 60.03 meters (196-11), respectively. She sits third in the conference in both events, but looks to reclaim her spot on top of both lists. Wannemacher is third in the conference in the shot put, fourth in the discus and sixth in the hammer throw, and is the only woman in the conference to regionally qualify in all three events. Her season-best mark of 15.85 meters (52-00.00) in the shot put is second all-time at Purdue, while her discus throw of 50.10 meters (164-04) is fourth in school history. She hit her regional mark in the hammer throw most recently, eclipsing the standard with a toss of 54.53 meters (178-11) at the Billy Hayes Invitational last weekend.

Just like the Purdue men, the Boilermaker women send a fleet to the pole vault runway, all with hopes of picking up team points. Leading the flock is two-time indoor All-American Mallory Peck, who posted a new Dave Rankin Track and Field record at 4.11 meters (13-05.75) this season. She has placed in each of the last three conference championship meets, winning the Big Ten title at the 2007 indoor meet. Freshman Tara Turnbull has the sixth-best height in the conference, clearing 4.00 meters (13-01.50) to win the Dave Rankin Invitational, while sophomore Brianna Neumann is tied for ninth in the Big Ten at 3.85 meters (12-07.50).

The championships have huge implications in the coveted Crimson and Gold Cup standings between the Boilermakers and archrival Indiana Hoosiers. Heading into the weekend, Indiana holds a 10-8 advantage over the Boilermakers, and Purdue needs to top the Hoosiers on both the men's and women's' sides in order to create the first tie in the short history of the competition. Indiana leads the all-time series 2-1, winning the first two years before Purdue captured its first cup in 2007.

The meet kicks off at noon (CT) on Friday with the men's decathlon and women's heptathlon, and the first set of Boilermakers are scheduled to compete at 1:30 p.m. (CT) in the men's hammer throw and pole vault. For more information and links to live results visit here.