Purdue high jumpers hope
for 1-2-3 finish
By Greg Doddridge
Staff
Writer
The high jumpers at Purdue want a 1-2-3 domination
at this weekend's Big Ten Indoor Track Championship at Penn State.
"With Shaun (Guice) and myself and Tim (Upshur)
there is no reason why we can't go 1-2-3," said junior Ryan Fitzpatric.
Both Guice and Fitzpatric want Purdue to take first,
second and third place in the high jump, regardless of who wins and
what the winning height is.
Guice said, "The first goal is to win it. If we
can win it at 6-5, I'd be happy with that."
Guice and Fitzpatric took first and second place
in the high jump last year at the Big Ten Championship.
In addition to their team goal, the high jumpers
have individual goals they want to achieve in the championship.
"I want to dominate. That's all I want to do,"
said Fitzpatric. "I want to qualify for Atlanta this weekend. I need
to jump 7-3. I need to get to Atlanta."
Atlanta is where the USA Track & Field Indoor
National Championships will be held next weekend. The minimum qualifying
height in the high jump for that meet is 7-2 1/2.
Guice, however, has already qualified for both
the USA meet and the NCAA championships. He has a different goal in
mind.
"I want the Big Ten (championship) record," Guice
said.
The Big Ten indoor championship high jump mark
is 7-4 1/2, set back in 1998. Guice has jumped that this year. His best
jump at the Big Ten indoor meet was 7-2 1/4 last year when he was a
freshman.
The Boilers, who have yet to win an indoor conference
title, are ranked 9th in the Team Power Rankings. They face strong competition
from Penn State, ranked 3rd; Indiana, ranked 14th; Illinois,
ranked 16th; and Michigan, ranked 20th.
For sophomore Amukela Gwebu, the team is ready
physically. He said it is now just a matter of executing. He is tired
of the talk.
"We have been talking about it. The time is over.
It's time to perform right now."
Another Boiler looking to perform is senior Chris
Brown. He won the 35-pound weight throw last year at the Big Ten indoor
meet with a toss of 64-7 3/4. He has thrown over 71-2 this year.
Gwebu said the team is performing well and thinks
the team is approaching its level of maximum competitiveness.
"Last year we came out swinging and people got
injured before the Big Ten meet. This time we came out slow and everybody
has been improving week after week," said Gwebu. "It's a different approach
and I think we will peak at the right time. Last year we peaked too
early."
Gwebu said he thinks Purdue can finish in the top
two this year. The Boilers finished fifth last year.
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