Tracking the Boilermakers

By Tom Schott

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Men's tennis seniors Renan Hanayama and Gergely Madarasz play their final home matches at the Schwartz Tennis Center this weekend.

The Boilermakers (10-14, 2-7 B1G) conclude the Big Ten Conference regular season with matches against Penn State (14-10, 4-5) on Friday at 4 p.m. ET and Ohio State (24-2, 9-0) on Sunday at noon. At 5 p.m. Sunday, Purdue will take on Chicago State (5-18) in non-conference action.

Admission to all matches is free. There will be a Nike gear drawing for fans both days.

Madarsz earned first team All-Big Ten honors the last two seasons. Furthermore, he has been ranked as high as No. 4 nationally in doubles and No. 36 in singles. Hanayama has been ranked as high as No. 59 in doubles.

The Big Ten Championships begin April 26 in Iowa City, Iowa.

Women's Golf Aims for Big Ten Title

Women's golf starts play at the Big Ten Championships on Friday at TPC River's Bend in Maineville, Ohio, near Cincinnati. No. 22 Purdue, which is one of four Big Ten teams ranked in the top 25 in the country and one of 13 in the top 100, tees off at 10:54 a.m. ET.

Head coach Devon Brouse and the Boilermakers aim for their first Big Ten title since 2013.

Purdue owns the fourth-most conference titles in Big Ten history (6) and boasts the third-most individual medalists in conference championships (9).

Freshman Inez Wanamarta is ranked eighth among individuals in the Big Ten this season, while sophomore Micaela Farah is No. 10.

The 54-hole tournament runs through Sunday. For live results, click here.

Lucas Boasts Nation's Top Discus Throw

Sophomore Ashmon Lucas broke the Purdue record in the discus throw April 14 at the Triton Invitational in San Diego. His winning throw of 62.91 meters (206-feet, 4-inches) is the best in the NCAA this season and ranks among the 20 best throws in the world this year. He earned Big Ten Field Athlete of the Week honors.

So, too, did junior Janae' Moffitt after she cleared the NCAA's fifth-best height in the high jump - outdoor personal record of 1.82 meters (5-feet, 11.50 inches) - at the Louisville Invitational on April 13.

Women's track & field remains No. 12 in this week's national poll.

Purdue's distance runners compete at the Cardinal Classic in Palo Alto, California, on Friday and Saturday. The balance of the track & field teams are off until the Drake Relays, which get underway April 26 in Des Moines, Iowa.

Abel Named Grand Marshal of 500 Festival Parade

Women's basketball junior Abby Abel and Mitch Bonar have been named Grand Marshals of the 2018 IPL 500 Festival Parade.

Abel organizes the Play Unified Basketball Tournament, held at Purdue. Now in its third year, this 4-on-4 basketball tourney pairs Special Olympics athletes from Tippecanoe County with Purdue students and student-athletes who all participate as a team.

Abel and Bonar are best friends that met in high school but led very different lives. Abel was a star player on the Carmel girls' basketball team. Bonar, who was born with cerebral palsy, loved sports but had difficulty fitting in athletically at Noblesville. Both of their lives were changed when they joined their school's Unified Track & Field team, which joins people with and without intellectual disabilities on the same team to compete. Unified sports are offered to Indiana schools through Champions Together, a partnership between Special Olympics Indiana and the Indiana High School Athletic Association. Champions Together promotes servant leadership among student-athletes while changing their lives as well as the lives of those with intellectual disabilities.

Drawing inspiration from their profound experience in high school, Abel and Bonar set out to create a world without the stigma and perception against people with intellectual disabilities. They collaborated to develop a program to help athletes and friends to stay connected after high school.

The 62nd IPL 500 Festival Parade will take place May 26 in downtown Indianapolis. Tying into the theme for this year's Parade, "Illuminate. Innovate. Indianapolis," the selection of Abel and Bonar will illuminate the good work being done by Indiana high school and college students every day in communities around the state, as well as tell the story of the innovation happening from within Indiana, a state that is leading the field of unified sports.

2018-19 Big Ten Basketball Opponents Revealed

The Big Ten has announced the home-and-away and single-play conference opponents for the 2018-19 basketball seasons.

On the men's side, the conference schedule has been expanded from 18 to 20 games. Purdue will play home-and-away series with Indiana, Maryland, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Ohio State and Penn State, with single-play home games against Illinois, Iowa and Rutgers and single-play road contests at Michigan, Northwestern and Wisconsin.

The conference women's schedule has been expanded from 16 to 18 games. Purdue will play Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and Northwestern both home and away, with single-play home games against Illinois, Maryland, Michigan and Ohio State and single-play road contests at Michigan State, Penn State, Rutgers and Wisconsin.

Dates, times and television designations are forthcoming.

Boilermakers on the Road

Mark your calendars for Boilermakers on the Road.

Purdue Athletics and the John Purdue Club will share Boilermaker spirit this spring and summer in Indianapolis (May 8); Louisville (May 29); West Lafayette (May 31); Fort Wayne, Indiana (June 12); and Chicago (July 22). Hear from athletics director Mike Bobinski, head football coach Jeff Brohm, head men's basketball coach Matt Painter, head volleyball coach Dave Shondell and head women's basketball coach Sharon Versyp.

The Indianapolis event will take place at Topgolf (9200 East 116th Street) in Fishers beginning at 5:30 p.m. ET. For more information and to order tickets ($50 each for golf, dinner and program), click here or call 765.494.3248 by April 30.

Details on the other four events are impending.

Etcetera

Baseball (16-16, 4-4 B1G) plays a three-game weekend series at Maryland (16-20, 3-5) ââ'¬¦ Softball (12-32, 3-8) visits Wisconsin (20-16, 4-5) on Friday through Sunday ââ'¬¦ No. 42 men's golf will take part in the Robert Kepler Intercollegiate on Saturday and Sunday in Columbus, Ohio. The tournament was added to the Boilermakers' schedule after they had the last round of last weekend's Boilermaker Invitational cancelled due to inclement weather. Next up are the Big Ten Championships beginning April 27 in Baltimore ââ'¬¦ Women's tennis (12-9, 5-4) wraps up the regular season with visits to Rutgers (5-13, 0-9) on Friday and Maryland (9-11, 3-6) on Sunday. The Boilermakers have won six of their last eight matches and are tied for seventh in the Big Ten standings. The Big Ten Championships begin April 26 in Minneapolis ââ'¬¦ Women's soccer concludes its spring season with a game against Illinois on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET at Folk Field ââ'¬¦ In the Boston Marathon on April 16, men's cross country/track & field alum and volunteer assistant coach Tate Schienbein finished 17th (11th among Americans) with a time of 2:28.53, while women's cross country/track & field alumna Shari Lund was 62nd among female runners ââ'¬¦ The 11th-annual Purdue Challenge 5K run/walk that benefits the Purdue University Center for Cancer Research raised approximately $100,000 on April 14. Since the race began in 2008, more than $815,000 has been raised in the fight against cancer.