June 2, 2000
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Kari Damron (Conway, S.C., Conway H.S.) and Daniel Underwood (Bedford, Ind., Bedford North Lawrence H.S.) have been named Purdue's Athletes-of-the-Month for their outstanding performances throughout May. The award is sponsored by WLFI-TV and Twin City Dodge-Chrysler-Plymouth.
Damron, a freshman on the women's golf team, had an exceptional campaign for the 18th-ranked Boilermakers. During the week of May 11-13, Damron led the Boilers to a tie for second-place finish at the NCAA East Regional Golf Championships in Columbus, Ohio. The Old Gold & Black, making its fourth consecutive trip to the regionals, advanced to the NCAA Championships with the runner-up finish for the first time in school history. In the individual standings, Damron tied Ohio State's Lisa Strom for medalist honors with an even-par 216. During the first round of the three-round tournament, she tied her collegiate best shooting a four-under 68. At the NCAA Championships in Corvallis, Ore., Purdue finished in ninth place with a four-round score of 1,215. Damron finished the championships as the Boilers' low scorer with a mark of 303, good for a tie for 34th place.
Damron was awarded the Big Ten's Female Golfer Freshman of the Year for her outstanding performances in her first year of collegiate golf. She was named All-Big Ten following a tie for second place with teammate Stacy Orschell at the conference championships. She participated in all 12 tournaments and was tops on the team with a 75.1 stroke average in 37 rounds of competition, which included four top 10 finishes this season.
In the month of April, Damron was part of history as Purdue claimed its first Big Ten Championships in Madison, Wis. The Boilermakers shot a 293 in the final round of Big Ten's, and their four-round total of 1,167 set a Big Ten Tournament record. Indiana held the previous mark of 1,196, set at the 1998 tournament at Penn State. It was the first time four sub-300 rounds were recorded in the tournament's history. Purdue also set the low team 18-hole record (287), the low 36-hole mark (576), and the low 54-hole mark of 874. The Boileramkers' previous best finish at Big Ten's was third place in 1982 and '98.
Underwood, a freshman on the baseball team, earned the honor of batting .419, while starting and playing in all 11 games during the course of the month. He had 18 hits in those 11 games, including two doubles, three home runs and 14 runs batted in. The highlight of the month was a 5-for-5 performance against the Big Ten Conference regular-season champion Minnesota. Two of the five hits were three-run home runs, as he tallied seven RBI for the game. The Purdue baseball team advanced to the Big Ten Tournament for the first time since 1997, finishing the year 35-23, including an 11-8 record against the five other teams competing in the tournament (Minnesota, 4-1, Penn State, 2-2, Illinois 4-1, Ohio State 0-1 and Northwestern 1-3) and sporting a 10-4 record against the top four teams in the Big Ten.
For the season, Underwood played in all 56 games, making 55 starts in right field for Doug Schreiber's Boilermakers. He was tops on the team in batting at .350 (71-for-203) with three home runs and 35 RBI. He was also tops on the squad in hits (71) and triples (3). Underwood was second in total bases (98) and slugging percentage (.483) and tied for third in doubles (12).