Outdoor season's success hinges on key athletes

By Katie Rippel
Staff Writer

After stellar performances by two athletes at the NCAA Championships over Spring Break, the Purdue women's track and field team is ready to kick off its outdoor season.

Senior Carri Long and sophomore Amy Spellmeyer competed in the indoor NCAAs, held in Fayetteville, Ark. Long took second place in the high jump, while Spellmeyer took sixth place in the pole vault. The high finishes earned Purdue enough points to give the Boilers a top-20 team finish.

Long jumped a career-best 6-1 1/2 and earned All-America status for the second consecutive year. She gave winner Dora Gyorffy of Harvard some great competition during the event. Gyorffy was heavily favored coming into the event and eventually cleared 6-foot-4.

"Carri's a great competitor," said Purdue coach Ben Paolillo. "Every season that goes by, she just proves it more and more."

Long struggled a bit with small parts of her technique in the USATF championships the week before the NCAA meet. Paolillo said she worked those problems out before leaving for Arkansas, and everything came together at the NCAAs.

"She put her head down and did the things she needed to do to give herself a chance," said Paolillo.

Spellmeyer jumped 12-9 1/2 and had three quality attempts at what would have been a career-best 13-1 1/2.

"Amy was at her first national collegiate meet and did a nice job of handling the pressure," said Paolillo. "By placing sixth, she was the highest-placing sophomore in the competition and just did a wonderful job."

UCLA's Tracy O'Hara won the event, topping out at 14-foot-6.

Long and Spellmeyer will join several other key athletes to lead the Boilermakers in the outdoor season. Last year, Purdue had an outstanding season that ended with a Big Ten championship. Expectations are high for this outdoor season due to the experience of this year's squad and a strong indoor season.

"We're the defending Big Ten champions and until someone else wins it, we have to go out and defend our title," said Paolillo.

Besides Long and Spellmeyer, several Boilers will be depended upon to deliver strong performances and points at meets this season.

Senior Beth Reid had knee problems earlier this year but should be a big contributor as the defending Big Ten champion in the heptathlon. Juniors Angela Craft and sophomore Krissy Liphardt will lead Purdue on the track. Craft will also be a strong competitor in the heptathlon. Junior Tina Johnson will look to improve on last year's third-place finish in the long jump at the Big Ten Championships.

"Those are our big hitters," said Paolillo.

He said all of them are capable of placing high in the conference in their respective events.

Paolillo is looking to another group of athletes to step up this outdoor season. That group includes senior Darria Clayton in the throws, junior Shonda Robinson in the sprints, junior Ann Stechschulte and sophomore Barbara Wenger in the distance events, and sophomore Janelle Johnson in the long and triple jumps.

"For us to have a chance in the conference, they have to step up and score for us," said Paolillo.

Paolillo thinks his freshmen have really come along during the course of the indoor season and should be able to contribute to the success of the outdoor season.

"Teresa Kamleiter is on the verge of being able to help us in the scoring column," Paolillo said.

Kamleiter is a distance runner who kept pace with Stechschulte in the fall cross country season.

Pole vaulter Simona Kovacic has been the most successful freshman for the Boilermakers and should continue to improve in outdoor competition. Paolillo also thinks Cynthia Bortz in the throws could surprise some people by sneaking into competitions and placing high for Purdue.

Key meets during the outdoor season include a home meet with Penn State and Michigan on April 8 and the USTCA National Invitational on April 21 and 22.

Purdue qualified for the USTCA meet based on its power rankings last year, where they finished in the top 10.

"It will give a lot of our kids the chance to compete at the national level," said Paolillo. "It's kind of like qualifying the whole team for nationals."

The Boilermakers begin the outdoor season by hosting the Purdue Open this weekend. The meet begins at 3 p.m. Friday and will resume at 11 a.m. Saturday.