Jan. 11, 2007

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue University men's and women's track and field teams open their seasons this Saturday as the Boilers host the Purdue Invitational in Lambert Fieldhouse. The Boilermakers will be hosting Chicago State University, the University of Illinois-Chicago and the University Notre Dame among other teams with action beginning at 11 a.m.

"We're all excited about the start of the season," said third-year head coach Jack Warner. "Saturday will be a great opportunity for some of our newcomers to get their feet wet in college competition, and for our upperclassmen to set the tone and go after some of their personal records."

One of these returnees will be senior All-American Rickey Pinkney. Pinkney finished seventh at the NCAA Indoor Championships in the 60-meter hurdles and won the Big Ten Championship in the event for the second straight year. He holds the school-record in the event (7.81 seconds) hitting the mark twice in his time at Purdue, and hopes to lower that mark this season. Other highlights on the men's roster include captains John Porter and Brian Kaluf, junior Jh'Rome Tuggle and sophomores Stephen Bach and Ben Harpenau.

Porter was one of the men's top pole vaulters in 2006, placing third at the Big Ten Indoor Championships, fourth at the outdoor conference meet and 13th at the NCAA Mideast Regionals. Porter also set his collegiate best mark of 5.20 meters (17-00.75) at last year's Boilermaker Invitational. Kaluf plans to make some noise in the hurdling events and relays, while Bach looks to make his name known in the middle-distance races. Harpenau headlines an impressive group of Boilermaker throwers, and will toss the weight and the shot put on Saturday. Tuggle is the Boilers' most highly touted sprinter after placing in the 200 (third) and 400 (fifth) at last year's Big Ten Indoor Championships. He set his personal bests in both races during last year's outdoor season at the Indiana State Pacesetter Invitational, but will look to infringe upon both marks this weekend.

On the women's side, junior captain Leah Kincaid hopes to follow up on an impressive 2006 campaign, in which she collected more Big Ten Championship team points than any other Boilermaker. Kincaid grabbed the bronze medal and fractured the Purdue record in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 8.31 seconds at the Big Ten Indoor meet, and earned fourth in the conference in the long jump. She also holds the school record in the indoor long jump with a mark of 20'-3.5" (6.18 meters). Also returning for the women are seniors Laura Farley and Corrie Whisner and sophomore Mallory Peck. Whisner and Farley both compete in the middle-distance events and will look to push each other all season. A 2007 captain, Farley placed seventh at last year's Big Ten Indoor Championships 800-meter run, while Whisner's career-best mark in the event is less than a second behind (2:12.00) and she looks to make her name know on the conference scene in 2007. A pole vaulter, Peck shared the Big Ten Indoor Championship bronze medal with former teammate Jocelyn Lindsay last year, and hopes to continue last season's success which carried her all the way to the NCAA Outdoor Championships. She also finished fifth at the NCAA Mideast Regionals and ninth at the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.

Newcomers Rachel Stalzer and Stacey Wannemacher both look to open their college careers in grand fashion this weekend. Stalzer will display just a portion of her athletic diversity as she may compete in the jumps, mid-distances, hurdles or throws in preparation for pentathlon and heptathlon competition later this season. Wannemacher comes to Purdue after winning a trio of Ohio state shot put championships and three top-10 finishes in the discus.

The meet's field events will lead off the meet with the men's weight throw at 11 a.m., while the running events are scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. Live stats will be available here.

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