Performance pleases track
coach
By Greg Doddridge
Staff
Writer
Purdue men’s track coach Mike Poehlein was
impressed with many performances during Saturday’s Purdue Open,
most notably with senior thrower Chris Brown.
"Chris Brown was brilliant," Poehlein
said after Brown provisionally qualified for the NCAA Indoor Championships
in both the shot put and the 35-pound weight throw. He won the weight
throw at 65-7 and placed second in the shot put at 59-0 3/4.
"I wanted to get on the list as early as possible
so I wouldn’t have to worry about it," said Brown. "I
can play around with stuff instead of worrying about the list."
In the high jump, however, the prospect of provisional
qualification was not attained. Junior Ryan Fitzpatrick won the event
with a jump of 6-10 3/4 — less than the provisional mark.
Sophomore Shaun Guice was not able to try his goal
of 7-4. Guice pulled a muscle attempting the height that Fitzpatrick
cleared to win the event. Guice said the pull was not a problem earlier
in the week and he hopes it is only temporary.
"I was feeling great when I was warming-up,"
Guice said. "I jumped seven feet in warm-ups and I was just sitting
around too long. There is only so much you can do to stay active for
an hour and a half before getting exhausted before you jump. I was trying
to balance it and I just didn’t do it well enough."
In the sprints, sophomore Prentice Stovall won
the 60-meter high hurdles with a time of eight seconds flat, 1.4 seconds
faster than his own school record he set last year and a tenth of a
second slower than the NCAA provisional mark. He also finished second
in the 60-meter dash in 6.88 seconds and placed third in the 200.
"I just came out here ready to run,"
Stovall said. "I didn’t have as great an indoor season as
I wanted to last year. I’m just out for revenge."
Senior Markus Williams won the 400 in 48.97 seconds
and placed second in the 200 in 22.07. "(The 400 time) was all
right," Williams said. "I was a little sick all this week.
It was a good start."
In distance, senior Matt Hartman won the 800 in
1:54.90. Sophomore Rob Heise placed third in the 1,000 with a time of
2:36.79 and was runner-up in the 3,000 in 8:37.54. Senior Tito Downer
won the 3,000 in 8:36.90.
In the jumping events, freshman Daniel Harris placed
second in the long jump (22 8-3/4) and triple jump (47 5) while sophomore
Amukela Gwebu was third in both events.
Jumps coach Lissa Olson said the jumpers were rusty
and need meet experience to get their timing down.
Poehlein said Olson was pulling her hair out.
"That’s part of coaching," he said.
"They’ll (the jumpers) be all right. I’m not worried
about them."
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