WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - This week's Tracking the Boilermakers is the 100th edition since its debut March 22, 2013.
Now, on with the real news & notes ...
Charlton, Johnson Named Athletes of the Year
Sophomore sprinter Devynne Charlton and freshman diver Steele Johnson were named Purdue's Athletes of the Year for the 2014-15 school year. They were selected by a vote of the athletics department administrators from a list consisting of each sport's Most Valuable Player or similar designee.
Charlton and Johnson, who combined for six All-America accolades in 2015 (including four first team honors) are only the second set of underclassmen (freshman/sophomore) to be recognized as Purdue Athletes of the Year in the same year. In 2003, Andrea Hillsey (softball) and Chris Fleeger (wrestling) won the awards as sophomores. Johnson joins fellow diver David Boudia (2009) as the only freshmen to be selected as a Purdue Athlete of the Year.
Charlton had a breakthrough season for the Boilermakers, breaking six school records, earning three All-America honors (60-meter hurdles indoors and 100-meter hurdles and 4x100-meter relay outdoors), and winning two Big Ten titles (100-meter dash and 4x100-meter relay outdoors). She helped the Boilermakers finish tied for third at the Big Ten Indoor Championships, sixth at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships and 20th at the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
Meanwhile, Johnson won two NCAA titles (1-meter and platform) and also earned All-America honors in 3-meter. He was named National and Big Ten Diver of the Year after being Purdue's top individual scorer at both the Big Ten Championships (51 points) and NCAA Championships (49) and leading the Boilermakers to fourth- and 17th-place team finishes. Johnson finished second in the championship final of all three diving events at Big Ten's.
Charlton and Johnson now represent the Boilermakers in the voting for the Big Ten Conference Athlete of the Year awards. The Big Ten winners will be voted on by a panel of conference media members and announced next week.
NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships Review
The track & field teams had a successful trip to the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Eugene, Oregon.
The women finished 20th on the strength of first team All-America performances by sophomore Devynne Charlton (seventh in the 100-meter hurdles with a school- and Bahamian national-record time of 13.00 seconds), the 4x100-meter relay of sophomore Savannah Carson, sophomore Carmiesha Cox, Charlton and freshman Brionna Thomas (sixth place in 44.55 seconds) and the 4x400-meter relay of freshman Symone Black, Cox, junior Aarin Jones and Thomas (fourth place with a time of 3:31.98). In all three events, the Boilermakers earned first team All-America honors for the first time in school history. Freshman Micaela Hazlewood finished 22nd in the discus with a mark of 48.56 meters (159-feet, 4-inches) to earn honorable mention All-America status. The Boilermakers' team finish was the best since the 2009 squad also was 20th.
On the men's side, juniors Chukwuebuka Enekwechi and Matthew McClintock were first team All-Americans and led their team to a tie for 44th place. Enekwechi finished fifth in the hammer throw at 68.42 meters (224-feet, 6-inches), while McClintock took seventh in the 10,000 meters with a time of 29:16.57. Enekwechi also placed 22nd in the shot put with a mark of 18.43 meters (60-feet, 5.75-inches) to earn honorable mention All-America honors.
All 11 Boilermakers who competed will return next season.
Prior to the start of the NCAA Championships, McClintock was named the Great Lakes Region Men's Track Athlete of the Year and Angela Goodman was tabbed the Women's Assistant Coach of the Year. Goodman works with the Purdue sprinters, hurdlers and relay teams.
Swanigan Makes USA Basketball Team
Incoming freshman Caleb Swanigan has been selected to play for USA Basketball at the FIBA U19 World Championship. He is one of 12 players on the roster.
The World Championship will run from June 27 to July 5 in Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
Sophomore-to-be Vince Edwards had made the round of 16 cuts.
Team USA has won the World Championship in 1979, 1983, 1991, 2009 and 2013. From 1979 to 2007, the event was held every four years, before being contested every two years beginning in 2009.
Swanigan was a McDonald's All-American and Indiana's Mr. Basketball after averaging 22.6 points and 13.7 rebounds per game as a senior and leading Homestead High School to its first state title in school history.
Football Kickoff Times
Six kickoff times have been announced for the upcoming football season (all times ET): Sept. 6 at Marshall (3 p.m.), Sept. 12 vs. Indiana State (noon), Sept. 19 vs. Virginia Tech (3:30 p.m.), Oct. 3 at Michigan State (noon), Oct. 17 at Wisconsin (noon) and Nov. 7 vs. Illinois (noon). The remaining six start times will be announced either 12 days or six days prior to game day.
Etcetera
Senior diver Jamie Bissett earned first team Academic All-America honors and became merely the 10th Boilermaker to earn first team All-America honors both academically and athletically in the same year ... Football announced its spring awards ... The U.S. Open got underway yesterday at Chambers Bay Golf Course in University Place, Washington, with two former Purdue golfers in the field - Shiv Kapur (2001-04) and Tyler Duncan (2009-12). It marks the second straight year that Kapur has qualified for one of the world's most-prestigious golf tournaments, placing 23rd last year at Pinehurst. Duncan is competing in his first Major Championship ... Former quarterback Bob Griese (1964-66) was honored Tuesday in his hometown of Evansville, Indiana, with a street being renamed Bob Griese Pass and the unveiling of a monument. Griese is the only Boilermaker to be inducted into the Purdue Athletics Hall of Fame, the College Football Hall of Fame and the Pro Football Hall of Fame. In 2004, he endowed a scholarship at Purdue that is awarded to one of the quarterbacks on the football team each year ... The athletics marketing & promotions staff won three national awards from the National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators (NACMA): a gold medal for the football helmet "selfie" sticker worn for a game last season and bronze medals for the track & field posters and the student-theme bus wrap ... The athletics video staff produced 770 videos between August 2014 and May 2015 totaling 7,119,588 views on Twitter via SnappyTV and Facebook. That's an average of more than 18 videos and 169,000 views per week ... Nine weeks from today marks the official start of the 2015-16 athletics calendar as soccer, under new head coach Drew Roff, plays host to Ohio University on Aug. 21.