University of Minnesota Athletics
Big Ten Track and Field Championships - Day Three Notes
5/18/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Track & Field
Bierman Track & Field Stadium - Minneapolis, Minn.
Day 3 Notes
Men's Team Champion Minnesota
Minnesota set an all-time Big Ten record in earning 168.5 team points. The second-highest team total was Michigan with 162 points in 1980. Minnesota fell to Wisconsin last year by only 4.5 points and again in this year's indoor championships by only 2 points.
Women's Team Champion Michigan
Defending team champion Michigan earned 137 points to take the team title. This is Michigan's fourth outdoor title. They have the second- most wins by a program in league history. Wisconsin has the most titles with 13. This is the second time in Michigan history that they have taken the triple crown, winning team titles in cross country and indoor and outdoor track and field.
Women's Triple Jump
Senior Shani Marks (Minnesota) set the Big Ten Championships record in preliminaries with a leap of 44-11 (13.69m), a mark good enough for the Big Ten title. The previous record had been held by Christine Gulbrandson, also of Minnesota. Her mark of 43-9 3/4 was set in 2000. Marks currently holds the top distance in the nation and the all-time Big Ten record in the event with a mark of 45-3 (13.79m) set at the Drake Relays earlier this season. She was the 2001 champion and is a two-time All-American in the event.
Junior Chi-Chi Aduba (Penn State) took second with a leap of 44-3 1/2 (13.09m). She took the indoor title over Marks.
Women's Discus
Freshman Amarachi Ukabam (Ohio State) and senior Deshaya Williams (Penn State) tied in the discus with marks of 170-11 (52.09m). Ukabam was declared the winner after their second-best marks were compared. Ukabam threw 51.84 while Williams earned a mark of 51.55. Williams placed third last year.
Defending champion senior Krista Keir (Ohio State) placed third with a mark of 169-5 (51.63m). Keir entered the competition with the top throw of the season of 186-1 (56.72m) She took the title last year with a mark of 178-11.
Men's Shot Put
Defending champion junior Dan Taylor (Ohio State) won the shot with a toss of 64-8 (19.71m). He entered competition with the top time in the Big Ten and the third-best mark in the nation of 67-0 3/4. He earned All-America honors in 2002 with a tenth-place finish of 62-2 1/4.
Men's Pole Vault
Last year's runner up, senior Dino Efthimiou (Indiana), took the conference title with a vault of 16-8 3/4 (5.10m). He entered competition behind marks set by Pooh Williams (third, 16-4 3/4, 5.00m) and Marty Keifer (NH) earlier this season. Williams had a height of 17- 6 3/4 and Keifer had a height of 17-1 3/4, the only vaulters in the Big Ten that had cleared 17 feet this season.
Women's 4x100-Meter Relay
Indiana's team of Rose Richmond, Rachelle Boone, Ara Towns and Daniele Carruthers took the Big Ten title in a time of 44.06. Their time ranks eighth nationally. This is the fourth consecutive year Indiana has won the event, and all four runners have run on the relay all four years.
Illinois placed second to Indiana for the fourth consecutive year. Chequetta Bearfield, Nicole Whitman and Perdita Felicien are all seniors that comprised the original relay.
Men's 4x100-Meter Relay
Purdue took the title, clocking in at 39.75 to set a new Bierman Field record. Kenneth Baxter, Jamar Green, Jacques Reeves and Prentice Stovall came into championships with the top time of 39.50. Stovall, Baxter and Reeves went on to take the top three places in the 100 meters, placing first, second and third, respectively.
Defending champion team Minnesota took third with a time of 40.58. Minnesota has earned top finishes in all of the last four years, placing third in 2000, second in 2001, first in 2002, and third in 2003.
Women's 1,500 Meters
Last year's champion senior Bethany Brewster (Wisconsin) made a repeat showing, placing first in 4:23.94. She was a member of the Badgers' distance medley relay that earned All-America honors at the 2003 indoor meet.
Junior Hilary Edmondson (Wisconsin) took second with a time of 4:26.24. She took the title in 2001 and placed third last year. Brewster placed third in 2001.
Men's 1,500 Meters
Freshman Nick Willis (Michigan) took the title, running the event in 3:52.19. He ran a strong race, coming from behind to win in the end, running an unofficial final quarter split of 51 seconds. It's his second-fastest performance this season with his top time being 3:46.28, which he ran in April.
Women's High Jump
Senior Tami Smith (Ohio State) repeated as Big Ten champion, clearing a season-best 5-11 1/4 (1.81m). She has now one five Big Ten championships in the high jump - three straight indoor and two straight outdoor.
Women's 100-Meter Hurdles
Senior Perdita Felicien (Illinois) ran a wind-aided 12.88 seconds for her second Big Ten title in the event. She won the title in 2001, finishing second in 2000 and 2002. In the preliminaries, Felicien set a Bierman Field record with a 12.98 clocking.
Last year's champion, senior Danielle Carruthers (Indiana) won in 2002 and placed second today in a time of 12.95.
Men's 110-Meter Hurdles
Senior Joel Brown (Ohio State) ran a Bierman Field record 13.76 to claim his first Big Ten Championship in the 110 hurdles, his second Big Ten title of the year. He won the indoor 60-meter hurdles this season.
Defending champion junior Jon Mungen (Wisconsin) failed to finish the race after hitting the first two hurdles.
Women's 400 Meters
Junior Shellene Williams (Iowa) took the title, running a 53.58 to claim her first Big Ten championship in the 400 meters.
Men's 400 Meters
Junior Mitch Potter (Minnesota) won his first individual Big Ten outdoor championship with a time of 46.39. He entered the meet with the second-fastest time in the nation of 45.16. He missed last year's Big Ten Outdoor Championships with a broken foot, and he suffered a hamstring injury in 2001. Potter was also the anchor on today's champion 4x400 relay. The event was a key point-producer in Minnesota's team championship as the Gophers claimed 23 team points with junior Adam Steele finishing second and senior Andy Wohlin taking fourth.
Women's 100 Meters
Defending champion junior Connie Moore (Penn State) won the event in 11.37, a new Bierman Field record and USATF qualifier. Her time is the 11th fastest in the nation. Moore had the second-best time coming into competition of 11.44. She took the 200-meter title last year and was named Big Ten Athlete of the Championships. She went on to earn All- America honors in both events.
The top four finishers, Moore, Senior Danielle Carruthers (Indiana, 11.50), senior Rachelle Boon (Indiana, 11.51) and sophomore Sierra Hauser-Price (Michigan, 11.52) all ran USATF qualifying times.
Men's 100 Meters
Purdue took the first four places in the 100. The same four runners took the first four places in the 60 meters at the Big Ten Indoor Championships this year, finishing in the exact same order as they did today.
Senior Prentice Stovall anchored the relay and took the 100 title with a time of 10.39.
He also was a member of the 4x100 relay that took the title. He was joined by two other members of his relay. Junior Kenneth Baxter took third at 10.47 and junior Jacques Reeves came in third with a time of 10.54. Reeves was last year's champion and had the best time coming into the event, clocking 10.40 at Indiana on May 3.
Purdue's fourth-place runner was Joey Harris who clocked in at 10.55. The 100 runners earned 29 team points for Purdue.
Men's Triple Jump
Sophomore Aarik Wilson (Indiana) repeated his Big Ten champion with a wind-aided 54-6 (16.61m), winning by nearly two feet over senior Charles Burton (Illinois) who placed second with an unaided 52-8 3/4 (16.07m).
Men's Javelin
Junior Bill Newman (Iowa) set a Big Ten meet record 238-2 (72.60m) to repeat his Big Ten javelin champion. He entered with the fifth-best throw in the nation of 238-11.
Women's 800 Meters
Senior Rachel Sturtz (Michigan) claimed her fifth Big Ten title in the 800, winning her third straight outdoor championship with a 2:06.17, her top time of the season. She won indoor 800-meter titles in 2001 and 2003.
Men's 800 Meters
Sophomore Nate Brannen (Michigan) captured his second Big Ten title of the year with a 1:49.15 effort in the 800, edging freshman Andrew Ellerton's (Michigan) 1:49.84. Brannen captured the 800-meter title at the 2003 NCAA indoor national championships, the only Big Ten athlete to capture a national track championship so far this year.
Women's 400 Hurdles
Junior Vera Simms (Michigan) captured her second-straight Big Ten title in the hurdles as she edged senior Shani Marks (Minnesota) for the second year in a row. Simms finished in 58.78, and Marks nipped freshman Melissa Talbot (Wisconsin) with finishes of 59.27 and 59.31, respectively.
Men's 400 Hurdles
Senior Brian Derby (Penn State) beat last year's champion junior Mikael Jakobsson (Minnesota) in a season-best 49.72, the first sub-50-second time in the Big Ten this season. Jakobsson finished second in a season- best 50.08.
Women's 200 Meters
Senior Rachelle Boone (Indiana) took the event with a time of 22.87. Boone took second in 2000 and the 2001 title but missed the event last year due to leg injury suffered while anchoring the 4x100 relay that took the title. She is a three-time All-American in the 200. She also ran on the 4x100 relay that took first.
Defending champion junior Connie Moore (Penn State) placed second. She also took the 100-meter title and is a three-time All-American in the 200.
Boone and Moore both earned USATF qualifiers in both the 100 and 200.
Men's 200 Meters
Junior Kenneth Baxter (Purdue) won his second Big Ten title of the day with a season-best 20.91. He ran the lead leg in Purdue's 4x100-meter relay to earn his other title, and he also placed second in the 100 meters. Baxter completed sweep of the Big Ten 200 meters, winning an indoor title earlier this year.
Women's 5,000 Meters
Senior Bethany Brewster (Wisconsin) and sophomore Jamie Krzyminski (Michigan State) pulled away from the pack in the final laps and Brewster sprinted in the final stretch to claim victory in the 5,000 meters. Brewster ran a 16:39.21, and Krzyminski ran a 16:42.35. Brewster eclipsed her personal best by over three seconds. Freshman Rebecca Walter (Michigan) who had the Big Ten's top time coming in (16:18.29) faded in the final lap to place third in 16:53.06.
Men's 5,000 Meters
Freshman Aaron Fisher (Ohio State) emerged from the pack in the final lap to win the 5,000 in 14:19.41, edging sophomore Andrew Carlson (Minnesota, 14:21.73) and freshman Bobby Lockhart (Wisconsin, 14:23.31). Defending champion senior Isaiah Festa (Wisconsin), part of a four-runner Wisconsin pack that set the pace during most of the race, pulled out on the backstretch with three laps to go.
Women's 4x400 Relay
Iowa took the title in 3:38.95, becoming the fourth different school to win the event in the last four years (Ohio State in 2000, Purdue in 2001 and Indiana in 2002).
Minnesota clocked a 3:40.41 to come in second. They entered the competition with the top time of 3:40.58. Minnesota took the indoor title this year, earning the first indoor relay title in Minnesota history.
Men's 4x400 Relay
Defending champion Minnesota took the title in 3:09.06. Minnesota returns three runners from last year (Mikael Jakobsson, Andy Wohlin and Adam Steele). Anchor Mitch Potter did not run with the team last year due to injury. Potter, Wohlin and Jakobsson ran on the 2001 championship relay. Minnesota had the top time coming in of 3:04.92, which ranks sixth in the country. Potter, Steele and Wohlin went one, two, four, respectively, in the 400 meters.
Penn State took second in 3:10.70 and entered with the second-best time of 3:10.00.
