PURDUE YEAR IN REVIEW: 2007-2008

	BOILERMAKERS: YEAR IN REVIEW

SPORT BY SPORT RECAPS

Team	Big Ten finish
W Soccer	Season: 2nd Record: 20-2-3, 8-1-1
Cross country	Men: 10th Women: 8th
Football	Season: 7th Record: 7-5 , 3-5
Volleyball	Season: 4th Record: 18-13, 11-9
Swim. & diving	Men: 5th Women: 7th
Indoor T&F	Men: 2nd Women: 7th
Wrestling	Big Tens: 10th
M basketball	Season: 2nd Record: 25-9, 15-3
W basketball	Season: 4th Record: 19-5, 11-7
Outdoor T&F	Men: 4th Women: 8th
Golf	Men: 9th Women: Big Ten champs
Tennis	Men: 9th Women: 11th
Baseball	Season: 2nd Record: 32-26, 21-10
Softball	Season: 4th Record: 35-23, 9-9

Soccer
Purdue's soccer team claimed the Big Ten Tournament title over Ohio State 3-1, the first title in the program's 10-year history to  guarantee itself a spot in the NCAA tournament.

Purdue had not won or scored in an NCAA Tournament match since 2003 and was determined to change that in 2007.

The Boilermakers faced Oakland in the first round and were blanked throughout the first half before erupting for a four-goal second half, which included three scores within a six-minute span, to earn their first NCAA Tournament win since 2003.

Next up was conference rival Indiana. Unfortunately Purdue's luck ran out as it played Indiana to a scoreless tie, with the Hoosiers advancing to the Sweet 16 on penalty kicks, 4-3.

Cross country
The Purdue women's cross country team placed eighth, while the men took 10th at the Big Ten Championships.

Both the men's and women's teams headed to Bloomington, Ind. for the NCAA Great Lakes Regional.

The men finished 19th overall with sophomore Matt De Silva placing 44th on the 10K course with a time of 31:59.20. This was his first attempt at a 10K course while competing for the Boilermakers.

On the women's side, the team finished 13th overall with sophomore Kristin Phillips leading the way for the Boilermakers. Phillips finished 33rd with a time of 21:58.59. Classmate Katie Morrical finished 50th clocking a time of 22:17.35 and coming in at 64th freshman Kristina Krasich logged a time of 22:43.76.

Football
The Purdue football team capped an inconsistent season by accepting an invitation to play in the Motor City Bowl in Detroit against the Central Michigan Chippewas. The two teams met in the regular season with the Boilermakers posting a 45-22 victory.

In an offensive showdown by both teams, Purdue kicker Chris Summers connected on a 40-yard field goal with no time left to give the Boilermakers a 51-48 victory over Central Michigan. Purdue head coach Joe Tiller picked up his fourth bowl win in West Lafayette, equaling the school's total postseason wins prior to his arrival in 1997. Quarterback Curtis Painter set a school record with 546 passing yards, the third-highest total in Big Ten history, and three touchdowns. In addition, three different wideouts eclipsed the 100-yard receiving barrier, marking just the fourth time in Purdue history and the first time in a bowl game that three receivers surpassed 100 yards.

Also of note, the 99 combined points tied the second-highest total in a bowl game that ended in regulation, trailing only the 2003 Insight Bowl, where California beat Virginia Tech 52-49.

Volleyball
The 2007 Boilermaker volleyball team clinched third place in the Big Ten, its best conference finish since 1990. The finish helped them earn a trip to the NCAA Tournament in Athens, Ohio where they faced the host Ohio in the first round. This marked the fourth-straight trip to the Big Dance for the Boilermakers.

With a 3-1 win over Ohio, Purdue advanced to the second round, where a talented Cal Poly team awaited. A third-straight trip to the Sweet 16 was not in the cards for the Boilermaker volleyball team, however, as it was swept by No. 17 Cal Poly. 

Men's swimming & diving
The Boilermakers left the Big Ten Championships with much to cheer about following their fifth-place finish, highlighted by a record-setting 400 freestyle relay performance (2:56.29).

Senior Eddie Kenney led off the sixth-place relay with a 100-yard freestyle split and personal best of 44.94 seconds. John Mullen, Romain Maire and John Schmitt followed with splits of 43.73, 43.72 and 43.90. Purdue's record-breaking achievement marked the second time in as many years that its 400 free relay ended the championships by establishing a new school record. Purdue's best relay showing of the weekend helped the program claim fifth place.

The Boilermaker duo of Romain Maire and David Colturi headed to Federal Way, Wash. for the NCAA Division I Mens's Swimming and Diving Championships. Colturi received the title of All-American after posting a third place and varsity record total of 453.65 points on platform. Maire placed 38th in the 200 individual medley and 21st in the 400 IM.

Women's swimming & diving
This program, which replaced nine seniors from the previous season with nine freshmen, scored just 18 fewer points en route to a seventh-place in the Big Ten Championships at Ohio State's McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion. The year prior, the Boilermakers finished just one point ahead of Northwestern for sixth-place.

Purdue received a complete team effort. However, most of the praise should be reserved for a diving unit that totaled 113 points.

Sophomore Ashley Karnes succeeded in the springboard challenges, as expected. She recorded lifetime best totals on 1-meter (317.45) and 3-meter (335.00) to finish second and third, respectively, which earned her Purdue's high-point award with 33 points.

But what wasn't expected was freshman Kara Cook moving up from an eighth-place preliminary score of 248.60 to win the conference platform title with 289.00 points. The Woodlands, Texas, native edged Ohio State rookie Kristen Asman for first place by a mere .85 points.

Purdue divers Katie Berg, Kara Cook and Ashley Karnes all headed to the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships at Ohio State. Cook placed third on platform with 311.00 points. Berg placed 21st in prelims with 200.20 points while Karnes couldn't compete after an ankle inury.

Men's indoor track and field
The Purdue men's indoor track and field team, settled for second place after coming within 25 points of the first conference championship in school history, scoring a school record 102 team points at the 2008 Big Ten Indoor Championships at the University of Wisconsin.

Highlights included sophomore Jonathan Pullum winning his second career Big Ten Championship, launching a 21.57-meter weight throw to eclipse the Camp Randall Fieldhouse record; and sophomore Adetayo Adesanya tasted Big Ten gold for the first time in his career, winning the high jump with a career-best leap of 2.14 meters (7-00.25).

Women's indoor track and field
The Purdue women's track and field team posted its best indoor conference finish in the last six years, taking home seventh at the 2008 Big Ten Indoor Championships, hosted by the University of Minnesota.

The tournament was highlighted by senior Astin Steward claiming the silver medal in the weight throw, hurling it 19.57 meters (64-02.50).

Wrestling
In their 10th-place finish at the Big Ten Championships, Jake Patacsil, Luke Manuel, A.J. Kissel and Logan Brown all punched their ticket to the NCAA Championships.

Patacsil and Manuel fell just shy of All-America status at the NCAA Championships. Both Boilermaker grapplers fought to reach the fifth-round of the consolation brackets, but were ousted there. Kissel was the first Boilermaker bounced from the tournament dropping a 7-4 decision at the hands of West Virginia's Kurt Brenner. Brown, followed Kissel out of the championship, suffering a 10-0 major decision to Joe Rovelli of Hofstra.

Men's basketball
Head coach Matt Painter welcomed seven new faces to the program, including five freshmen. The 2007-08 season was Painter's most impressive to date. With four true freshmen, two sophomores and a junior-college transfer as the top seven scorers, Painter led the Boilermakers to a 25-9 record, a second-place finish in the Big Ten and to the NCAA tournament for the second straight season.

Twenty-five wins were the most by a Purdue team since the 1997-98 season and the sixth most in school history. The Boilermakers won their 11th straight first-round NCAA tournament game with a 90-79 victory over Baylor.

Purdue went 15-3 in the Big Ten and finished one game out of first place. The Boilermakers were the only Big Ten team to defeat conference champion Wisconsin, and they did so twice.

Despite losing in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Championship to eventual runner-up Illinois, and losing to Xavier in the second round of the NCAA tournament, the Boilermakers finished at No. 20 in both polls, having gotten as high as No. 14 in the regular season.

Women's basketball
Much like their male counter-parts, the Boilermaker women had a strong season.

Overcoming two season-ending injuries to key starters, Purdue managed to post a 19-15 record, including a second consecutive Big Ten Tournament Championship, leading to an NCAA tournament berth.

Purdue's second Big Ten Tournament championship wasn't as easy as the first. Purdue trailed at halftime 30-28 and was not able to regain the lead until 7:46 in the second half. The Boilers appeared to have things in hand, leading by six, 56-50, at the 4:17 mark, but the Illini hit back-to-back 3-pointers to knot the score at 56 with 2:55 to play. Both teams came up with defensive stops down the stretch and neither team was able to score. Purdue called a timeout and set up a play for Lakisha Freeman in the corner. Freeman missed the shot but grabbed her own miss and her putback at the buzzer gave Purdue the 58-56 victory.

Freeman talks about her tournament winning shot.

The win sealed Purdue's NCAA tournament fate, and it received a No. 9 seed. The Boilermakers, playing at home, topped No. 8 Utah, 66-59, in the first round before drawing top-seed Tennessee, also nationally-ranked No. 3, and Candace Parker.

A poor shooting percentage and 24 turnovers helped Tennessee top Purdue, 78-52 bringing an end to Purdue's postseason play. 

Men's golf
The Purdue men's golf team ended its season with a ninth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships in East Lansing, Mich.

The young Boilermakers were led by freshman David Gersztein who finished eighth with a total score of 295 (70-73-79-73), after firing a 73 in the last round.

Women's golf
The sixth-ranked Purdue women's golf team won its third Big Ten Championship in dominating fashion, finishing with a 21 stroke advantage over second place Michigan State. The team had four golfers finish in the top 10, including Maria Hernandez winning Purdue's first individual Big Ten title and Christel Boeljon's runner-up finish.

The Boilermakers advanced to the NCAA Championships following the NCAA Central Regional
Championship in Austin, Texas where the team finished second. In the championships, the team
used a near-record round of 283 to improve from 10th to finish fourth at the 2008 NCAA Women's
Golf Championships.

Men's tennis
Purdue hoped to salvage its season, taking on host Iowa at the Big Ten Championship in a match between No. 9 and 8 seeds. Unfortunately, it was not to be had, as Purdue lost to Iowa 4-0.

"The old saying goes, 'nice guys finish last', but for us this year it was, 'nice guys finish ninth,'" Purdue head coach Tim Madden said.

Women's tennis
The Boilermaker women had a similar experience as the No. 9 seed facing No. 8 Minnesota in the Women's Big Ten Championship.

Their season came to a close after dropping their match, 4-2, to Minnesota. "I honestly thought we'd win [today] based on how well I thought we matched up with them..." said Purdue head coach Laura Glitz following the loss.

Softball
The Boilermaker softball team made its second-consecutive Big Ten Tournament appearance facing Minnesota. After fighting back to tie the score at 4, a seventh-inning single capped Minnesota's 5-4 win over Purdue.

Next up for the team was the NCAA Tournament. It was their first-ever tournament appearance after receiving an at-large bid, and possibly the nerves showed as the team struggled to find any offense in a 4-1 loss to No. 20 Nevada to be shipped to the loser's bracket.

There, behind a solid pitching performance from junior pitcher Dana Alcocer, Purdue defeated Cal State Fullerton 4-2 to set up a rematch against Nevada. After coming away with one of the biggest wins in program history, however, Nevada proved to be too much again in a 2-1 loss, marking the end of the Boilermakers' first NCAA appearance.

Outdoor track and field
The Purdue men's and women's track and field teams picked up three more gold medals en route
to respective fourth- and eighth-place finishes at the 2008 Big Ten Outdoor Championships.

Freshman Billy Hardcastle won his second event of the championships, while junior Mallory
Peck and freshman Josh Hembrough both grabbed their second career Big Ten Championships.

The Purdue men racked up 94 team points over the three days to place fourth and move up one
spot from last year's championships. The Boilermaker women completed the championships with
70.5 team points, improving 12.5 points, but dropping a spot in the standings from their 2007
finish. Both squads topped the archrival Hoosiers of Indiana University, securing two points
and forcing the first tie in the history of the annual Crimson and Gold Cup competition
between the two schools.

Baseball
The Boilermakers ended the regular season with a record of 21-10 in conference action. The 21
conference wins are a Boilermaker program record, surpassing the former record of 19 in the
2001 season (19-7).

At the Big Ten Baseball Tournament, with Purdue one game away from either the championship
game or elimination from the tournament, Dan Black and his bat decided the Boilermakers would
rather have a second shot at top-seeded Michigan as Purdue handed Indiana its exit papers with
a 11-7 win to advance.

Black tied a Big Ten Tournament record with three home runs in a single tournament game, and
thereby set a new tournament record with five home runs in the postseason event.

The Purdue Nine came one run shy from forcing the "if Necessary" game for a chance at the
tournament championship and the Big Ten's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament, by falling
to top-seed Michigan 3-2.

The Boilermakers had two players named to the all-tournament team as sophomore Dan Black and
junior Jon Moore were selected by the members of the media to the squad.

Information for this report was provided by purduesports.com and bigten.org.

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