May 20, 2009
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Purdue senior Kara Patterson and freshman Terri Anderson received postseason honors from the Big Ten Conference on Wednesday as Patterson was named Women's Field Athlete of the Year for the second straight season, while Anderson was recognized as the Women's Freshman of the Year.
Patterson's repeat award comes on the strength of her NCAA Division I-best toss of 58.41 meters (191-08) in the women's javelin. Despite not having thrown from a full approach this season, she's led the nation from her first outing of the year, launching her top mark at the Arizona State Invitational (Mar. 28). Patterson also captured her third career Big Ten title this past weekend at Ohio State, topping the conference field with a mark of 57.47 meters (188-06). She's one of two women in school history to ever earn conference athlete of the year accolades as she joins former Boilermaker Corissa Yasen, who earned the honor in 1995.
Anderson becomes just the second Boilermaker woman to secure Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors, following Lindsay Zinn, who received the award in 2002. Anderson placed in a pair of events at the Big Ten Championships last weekend, taking third in the shot put with a huge personal record and placing fourth in the discus. Her top mark of 15.58 meters (51-01.50) is good for fourth all-time at Purdue in the outdoor shot put and is well above the NCAA Regional standard. Anderson's top discus throw of 49.49 meters (162-04) came at the 2009 Dave Rankin Invitational, hosted by the Boilermakers on April 18, and is also well above the regional qualifying distance.
Big Ten Women's Field Athlete of the Championships was shared by Penn State's Emma Schmelzer and Minnesota's Alicia Rue, while Michigan's Gina Gall earned women's track athlete of the year and of the championships. Penn State head coach Beth Alford-Sullivan was named women's coach of the year for the second straight season.
On the men's side, Minnesota cleaned up most of the awards as Hassan Mead was named track athlete of the year and of the championships, while Aaron Studt earned field athlete of the year and of the championships honors. The Gophers' Steve Plasencia was named head coach of the year, and Indiana rookie Derek Drouin won Big Ten Freshman of the Year.
Patterson and Anderson are two of 26 Boilermakers qualified for the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships, to be hosted May 29-30 at the University of Louisville. Patterson is in search of her fourth regional crown and automatic qualifier to the NCAA Outdoor Championships, while Anderson is in search of her first trip to nationals at the regional event.