Feb. 5, 2009

2009 Meyo Invitational Information & Schedule

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue men's and women's track and field teams are set to participate in their first national caliber meet this weekend as they head up to the University of Notre Dame for the Meyo Invitational. The Boilermakers will compete both Friday and Saturday, facing several teams from major conferences across the country.

The Boilermakers already have seven athletes with NCAA Indoor Championship provisional qualifying marks this season, five of which will be in action this weekend. Sophomore Josh Hembrough owns the country's seventh-best time in the men's 60-meter hurdles, posting a mark of 7.81 at the Gene Edmonds Cup, while senior Ranay Harvey has qualified in the 60-meter hurdles on the women's side with her career-best time of 8.43. Purdue also has both genders covered in the pole vault as senior Ben Pax has cleared the men's standard of 5.20 meters (17-00.75), while fellow senior Mallory Peck has a season-best of 4.00 meters (13-01.50). Senior captain Ben Harpenau wraps up the list with his career-best toss of 19.85 meters (65-01.50) in the men's weight throw.

Several Boilermakers will look to join this elite group over the weekend, including 2008 provisional qualifiers Ashlee Lengacher and Brianna Neumann. Both juniors, Lengacher has a season-best time of 2:10.22 in the women's 800-meter run, hoping to cut down under the standard of 2:09.00, while Neumann has her sights set on surpassing the 3.95-meter (12-11.50) standard in the women's pole vault. Sophomore Tara Turnbull and freshman Elizabeth Stover look to follow Peck and Neumann's example in the pole vault, and sophomore Emily Breslin came up just shy of the 1.78-meter (5-10.00) clearance in the women's high jump her last time out, looking to exceed the mark on Friday.

On the men's side, junior Adetayo Adesanya and sophomore Bill Hardcastle hope to zero-in on provisional qualifiers. Adesanya has come up just shy of the national standard in each of his four meets this season, and looks to match his career-best of 2.14 meters (7-00.25) on Saturday. Hardcastle has steadily improved in the men's shot put through his first three outings and hopes to mark past the 17.75-meter (58-03.00) national barrier on Saturday.

Results and a recap of each day's action will be available at PurdueSports.com upon the conclusion of competition on Friday and Saturday. For more information visit www.und.com.

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