Purdue Sports Update June 5

NFF/Tiller Chapter Brunch set for June 22

The 21st annual event is set for Saturday, June 22, at the Purdue Memorial Union Ballrooms in West Lafayette. It will bring together a wide range of honorees, from state champions and high school standouts to All-Americans, community leaders, members of the media, and military servicemen. The brunch is supported by GoldandBlack.com, Lafayette Journal & Courier, the Indiana Football Coaches Association, and WLFI-TV.

A highlight of the event will be the induction of four individuals into the Indiana Football Hall of Fame:

• David Haugh, a North Judson High School alum and long-time Chicago sports media figure
• Josh Smith, a standout from Attica High School and former U.S. Naval Academy football player who went on to serve as a Navy pilot
• Jim Vruggink, former Purdue administrator and co-founder of the NFF Tiller Chapter
• Josh Whitman, Harrison High School graduate and current athletics director at the University of Illinois

The brunch also serves as a showcase for the next generation of talent. Attendees can expect to see some of the region’s most promising high school athletes recognized for both their achievements on the field and their academic excellence.

Tickets for the Honors Brunch are available to the general public for $75. NFF members can attend for $60, and student tickets are available for $50. Tickets may be purchased by contacting the NFF Awards Coordinator at 3672 Farnsworth Drive, West Lafayette, IN 47906. Additional information, including an order form and QR code for payment, can be found in the spring newsletter at nfftillerchapter.org.

Amornchaichan Finishes 9th at NCAA Golf Championships; Best Finish for Purdue Golfer Since 1961

Freshman Supapon Amornchaichan finished tied for ninth at the NCAA Championships, the Boilermakers’ highest finish for an individual at college golf’s premier event in the modern era and since 1961.

Amornchaichan fired a 72-hole total of 3-under par 285 (73-69-72-71) to finish in the top 10 for the first time in his career. He becomes Purdue’s first member of the NCAA All-Tournament Team in school history.

Amornchaichan earns at least GCAA Honorable Mention All-American honors with the top-15 finish, with voting done later in the year for All-America teams.

Amornchaichan entered the tournament with just two top-15 finishes on the season, including one at the NCAA Auburn Regional two weeks ago. He played masterful golf, finishing seventh in the field with 17 birdies while posting no double bogeys in 72 holes.

Amornchaichan finished as the low freshman in the NCAA Championships, one shot ahead of Oklahoma’s Clark Van Gaalen.

Amornchaichan finishes the season with a 73.03 stroke average, the lowest mark by a freshman in school history.

Sapp Wins Medalist Honors at U.S. Senior Open Qualifier

Men’s golf head coach Andrew Sapp won medalist honors at Mesa Country Club (Arizona) to advance to the 45^th U.S. Senior Open held June 26 to 29 at The Broadmoor in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Sapp will play in his second U.S. Senior Open after competing in the 2022 event at Saucon Valley Country Club in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

Sapp reached final qualifying this year as an alternate, but was able to compete when a qualifier was forced to drop out. He responded by shooting a 5-under par 67 with six birdies and just one bogey. He played the front nine in 1-under par with one birdie and eight pars, then birdied five of his last seven holes (with one bogey and one par) to easily be inside the cut line by three shots and win medalist honors by two shots.

Sapp just concluded his first season as the Purdue men’s golf coach, leading the Boilermakers to three team victories, an appearance in the National Championships and the highest-finishing individual at the NCAA Championships in over 60 years.

Purdue B1G+ Crew Wins Award

For the second time in the 2024-25 academic year, a Purdue B1G+ broadcast earned national accolades last week.

The College Sports Media Awards honored the Purdue crew for the Best Non-Event Live Broadcast of the year. The winning production was the pregame show for the B1G+ broadcast of the Purdue vs. Marshall men’s basketball game on November 23, 2024.

To win the award, the Boilermaker broadcasters beat out seven other finalists from Louisville, Illinois, Virginia Tech, Kennesaw State, St. Cloud State and Elon. This is the first College Sports Media Awards win for Purdue’s broadcast team, though they have advanced to the finals in multiple categories over the past two years.

5 Boilermakers Honored as Academic All-District

Headlined by a trio of Boilermakers with 4.0 grade-point averages during the 2024-25 school year, five members of the baseball team were recognized as the program’s Academic All-District honorees.

Selected to represent Purdue were 2025 starters Brandon Anderson, Albert Choi, Aaron Manias and Keenan Spence as well as relief pitcher Isaac Milburn. They were recognized for having 3.5-plus GPAs coupled with starting at least 66% of the team’s games – or having pitched at least 35 innings/17 games in the case of Milburn on the mound.

Buell Finishes 6th, Boilers Total 20 Wins at U23 Nationals

Purdue’s travel party of 11 wrestlers closed its trip to U23 Nationals on Sunday after notching 20 wins during the two-day event inside SPIRE Academy.

Competing in the double-elimination freestyle tournament, Stoney Buell, Brody Baumann and Ashton Jackson advanced to day two after securing multiple wins in the early rounds on Saturday.

Buell led the charge as the last Boilermaker standing, advancing all the way to the fifth-place match in the 74 kg division.

The team captain and soon-to-be redshirt senior from Dundee, Michigan, earned six wins on the national stage before finally bowing out on Sunday afternoon. His sixth-place podium finish earned him U23 All-America status.

Filipovich had won two matches by a combined score of 16-2 and was leading his third-round match, 8-1, before taking an awkward fall. After a lengthy medical break, he opted to continue wrestling until another stumble made head coach Tony Ersland call for a medical forfeit to protect his starting heavyweight.

Jackson bounced back from an early 9-0 decision loss to win four straight in the consolation ladder. He ultimately tallied the second-most points of any Boilermaker (25) thanks to three tech falls and a 12-5 decision.

Redshirt sophomore Kade Law won his first two matches by a combined score of 13-1 in the 70 kg division. Additionally, underclassmen Dominic Burgett, Jacob Macatangay and Keagan Martin all picked up wins to contribute to Purdue’s final team score of 136.

UP NEXT

Joey Blaze will wrestle at Final X on Saturday, June 14, to determine a true third place and the final spot on the USA Wrestling Senior National Team (74 kg). His match against five-time NCAA qualifier Jarrett Jacques will go down at Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Gilkerson, Miller Qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships

Track & Field’s Bode Gilkerson (high jump) and Cameron Miller (200m) punched their ticket to the NCAA Outdoor Championships on day three of the NCAA East First Round.

Men’s Notes
• Gilkerson qualified for the first NCAA Championships of his career after a personal best clearance of 2.18m (7-01.75) and finished 7th in the region. In NCAA Regionals, competition concludes once 12 athletes qualify in the high jump. With that ruling, Gilkerson’s clearance was on his final jump of the meet.
• Gilkerson becomes the first Boilermaker to qualify for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in the high jump since 2017.
• Miller punched his ticket to the NCAA Championships with a wind-legal 20.17 to finish eighth. He qualified for his third consecutive nationals in the 200m (two at Purdue and one at Louisville).
• After his performance on Friday, Miller has now finished top 10 at the NCAA East First Round for three straight seasons.
• The 4x400m relay team of Jahn Riley, Nickens Lemba, Zach Mylenek and Brett Otterbacher ran 3:05.11 to finish 14th. The time was fourth in school history.
• Caleb Williams concluded his collegiate career 16th in the East Regional 3000m Steeplechase (8:48.24). He finished 19th at last year’s regional.
• Douglas Buckeridge (9:06.34) and Kiefer Bell (9:12.28) both finished 34th and 38th, respectively in the 3000m steeplechase.

Women’s Notes
• Sullivan took third in her heat and finished 16th overall in the First Round in a wind-legal 13.18. The top 12 runners on Thursday ran sub-13.09.
• Smith ran a personal-best 52.40 to finish fourth in her heat and 18th overall. Her time was a .30 personal best and improved her already fourth-ranked 400m time in program history.
• Smith made it past the First Round for the second consecutive season, while Sullivan made it for the first time in her career.
• Jalen Elrod finished 23rd in the long jump (5.97m / 19-07.00).
• Payne Turney finished 37th in the 10,000m (34:52.12). She will also run the 5000m on Saturday night.

Big Ten Volleyball Schedule Headlined by Rivalry Match at Gainbridge Fieldhouse

The Big Ten Conference office announced the 2025 volleyball schedule, in which the Boilermakers will open the season at home on Thursday, September 25 versus Washington.

The schedule is highlighted by a rivalry showdown between Purdue and Indiana at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Thursday, October 16. Not only will the historic arena host the first-ever regular-season showing between a Purdue and Indiana team and mark the first volleyball match to be played there, the competition will culminate with the victor hoisting the Monon Spike rivalry trophy. The annual trophy, currently held by Purdue, was last played in West Lafayette in front of a sold-out Mackey Arena crowd that set the Big Ten attendance record (14,876).

“This is another reason why forward-thinking players choose Purdue – to be part of events and accomplishments that have never been done before,” said head coach Dave Shondell. “Our team will compete in the first volleyball match to ever be played at Gainbridge Fieldhouse and our amazing Boilermaker fans will have an opportunity to paint downtown Indy black and gold. Thanks to Indy Sports Corp for helping make this happen. Our team is looking forward to the excitement the 2025 season will bring.”

Volleyball joins women’s basketball as the only two sports to play a rivalry match at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, with women’s basketball last playing against Indiana in the Big Ten Tournament in 2017 when the arena was formerly known as Bankers Life.

Purdue’s home Big Ten opponents include Washington (9/25), Illinois (9/28), Nebraska (10/12), Minnesota (10/26), Penn State (11/7), Iowa (11/8), Maryland (11/14), Oregon (11/15), Northwestern (11/23) and Indiana (11/29).

After opening up conference action at home, in Week 2 Purdue will travel west to UCLA (Thursday, October 2) and USC (Saturday, October 4). It will be the third-ever meeting between UCLA and Purdue, including the first for the Boilermakers at the Bruins homestead. Meanwhile, the showdown at USC will be the second-ever meeting between the two teams at USC, with the last coming in September 2006.

Purdue’s longest road stretch will come in October, when the Boilermakers will see seven of their nine matches on the road. Meanwhile, they will follow it with the longest homestand of the season in November, when the team is home for four consecutive matches beginning November 7 vs. Penn State through November 15 vs. Oregon. During the stretch, Purdue will also host Iowa and Maryland.

The season will wrap up with six of its last eight matches at home, including an away/home pairing in the final week of the season: Thanksgiving week. First, Purdue will face Minnesota on the road Wednesday, November 26 before hosting Indiana at home on Saturday, November 29, which will serve as a rivalry day in West Lafayette, as the Boilermakers and Hoosiers will also face off in football that day at Ross-Ade Stadium for the Old Oaken Bucket.

The conference schedule comes on the heels of the non-conference slate, which Purdue announced yesterday. The television schedule and ticket information will be released at a later date and match times are subject to change.

Coming off one of its best seasons in program history with a 27-7 (16-4 Big Ten) record and a fourth-place finish in the league standings, the Boilermakers return 2024 Second Team All-Big Ten honoree Taylor Anderson, who not only ranked No. 8 in the nation in assists per set (11.25), but guided Purdue to its third-highest hitting % in single-season history (.280%). In addition to returning rising stars, which include Kenna Wollard, Ryan McAleer and Grace Heaney, Shondell’s incoming freshmen and transfer class set Purdue up to tie the tallest team in over 22 years, with an average front court height of 6’2″.

Checking in at No. 8 in the nation in average attendance in 2024, Purdue’s season ticket holder renewals will begin June 3 and will close July 18. Fans looking to join the waiting list can do so by contacting the Hayes Family Ticket Office at 765-494-3194. The single-season ticket on-sale date will be released at a later time.

Home Opponents: Washington (9/25), Illinois (9/28), Nebraska (10/12), Minnesota (10/26), Penn State (11/7), Iowa (11/8), Maryland (11/14), Oregon (11/15), Northwestern (11/23), Indiana (11/29).
Away Opponents: UCLA (10/3), USC (10/4), Ohio State (10/9), Indiana (10/16), Rutgers (10/19), Illinois (10/24), Michigan State (10/31), Michigan (11/1), Wisconsin (11/19), Minnesota (11/26)

Softball Lands Two on CSC Academic All-District List

College Sports Communicators has announced its Academic All-District Team, with senior, Kendall Klochack, and sophomore, Delaney Reefe, both earning first-time nods.

The 2024-25 Academic All-District® Softball team, selected by College Sports Communicators, recognize the nation’s top student-athletes for their combined performances on the diamond and in the classroom. The CSC Academic All-America® program separately recognizes softball honorees in four divisions — NCAA Division I, NCAA Division II, NCAA Division III and NAIA.

Academic All-District® honorees advance to the CSC Academic All-America® ballot. First-team, second, and third-team Academic All-America® honorees will be announced later in the month.

In order to qualify, student-athletes must have 3.50 cumulative GPA and be an important starter or reserve, meeting minimum playing time requirements. The maximum number of nominees per school is five.

Reefe, a sophomore from Frederick, Md., earned her first-career CSC Academic All-District honor during the 2025 season after a stellar year on the field and in the classroom. Reefe had a career-high 39 hits on the season, while playing in 48 games for the Boilers. Reefe had 13 doubles with two home runs, while earning another career-high with 22 RBI.

As a Developmental and Family Science major, Reefe also excelled in the classroom.

Klochack, a senior from Grand Blanc, Mich., also earned her first-career CSC honors. Klochack has earned various honors during her career including being an Academic All-Big Ten Honoree, a Big Ten Distinguished scholar, an Easton/NFCA All-America Scholar Athlete, a member of the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll, and the Purdue Actuarial Science Scholarship Recipient.

On the mound, Klochack earned eight wins, with 42 strikeouts in 78.1 innings pitched. In her final career-game on the mound she earned the upset win over No. 22 Ohio State to help the Boilers advanced to the Big Ten semifinals. After graduating with a degree in Actuarial Science and Applied Statistics, Klochack will now work for the Lincoln Financial Group.

Purdue Athletics Successfully Raises Over $21 Million for Forging Ahead Campaign

Purdue Athletics and the John Purdue Club have officially concluded the Forging Ahead campaign, raising more than $21 million from over 2,000 gifts to support championship-caliber recruiting, retention, and student-athlete development across all 18 Boilermaker sport programs.

Launched in September 2023 with a goal of $18.69 million, the Forging Ahead campaign was designed to strengthen the foundation of Purdue Athletics by equipping coaches, staff, and student-athletes with the tools and strategies needed to sustain competitive excellence. The campaign exceeded its goal in less than two years, reflecting the generosity and vision of the Boilermaker donor community.

Forging Ahead funded a wide range of initiatives designed to elevate culture, efficiency, and development across Purdue Athletics, including:

• A department-wide partnership with Profile, a behavioral assessment and performance strategy firm founded by Purdue Football alum Chad Brown
• Expanded support for recruiting and retention, with a focus on data-driven evaluations and sustainable roster development
• Investment in staffing and leadership programming to cultivate high-performance team environments

“This initiative was about more than funding projects, it was about equipping our student-athletes with the resources, mentors, and opportunities that develop leaders for life,” said Tim House, deputy athletics director and associate vice president for development. “From dining to data to global service, this was a true team effort. We’re thankful to every donor who stepped up to make this possible.”

Throughout the campaign, donors received enhanced John Purdue Club priority point incentives, encouraging support of forward-facing innovation in addition to annual giving. With its successful conclusion, Forging Ahead has left a lasting imprint on the structure, philosophy, and student-athlete experience at Purdue.