Purdue Open struggles
with poor weather
By Greg Doddridge
Staff
Writer
How the weather was this past weekend at the Purdue
Open is all a matter of individual perspective.
"The weather was all right early on Saturday, but
then it started to become cold and started sprinkling right near the
end, toward the 1,600-meter relay," said Markus Williams.
Cynthia Bortz said that at one point people had
to wear their coats and then they were back in their T-shirts. She also
said that the wind picked up at times.
"Let me put it this way, we were all ready to go
home by the end of the meet," said Bortz.
Despite the weather situation, several Boilermakers
turned in provisional qualification marks to start the season.
Elisabeth Metzinger and Katie Meyer took first
and second in the pole vault, with respective heights of 13-1 1/2 and
12-5 1/2. Metzinger's mark is a school record, breaking her old mark
of 12-10 3/4. Kristin Liphardt won the 400-meter low hurdles in 59.11;
Serene Ross threw 188-8 in the hammer throw to take that event and score
a new Purdue Open record. Chris Brown won the shot put with a toss of
59 feet and he took the hammer throw in 213-1, setting a Rankin Track
outdoor record that he had held since March of 1999.
Bortz said there were some good competitors all
across the board at the meet.
"The competition was all right," Williams said.
"Most of the teams were from small schools, but it was good to have
two Big Ten schools (Indiana and Iowa) present."
The 1,600 relay team of Williams, Chance Ruiz,
Shaun Guice and Prentice Stovall placed second to Iowa by only a few
thousandths of a second.
Guice won the high jump, Stovall took first in
the 110-meter high hurdles, Williams won the 400 and Daniel Harris took
top honors in the triple jump.
"We're off to a great start; we've got the energy
that we've carried over from the indoor season," said Bortz, who placed
third in the hammer throw and ninth in the discus.
The women's 1,600 relay team took second. Liphardt
also won the 100-meter high hurdles, an event in which the Boilers swept
the top three spots. Angela Craft took second and Shannon Kelly placed
third.
"Any good performance is going to energize the
team," said Bortz.
She said the team's performance at the Purdue Open
will be good motivation for when the team goes on the road, starting
this weekend.
"Overall, the meet was all right," said Williams.
"It's always a good start when there are no injuries."
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