The 25/85 award recognizes the teams that finish in the top 25 nationally in their respective sports while also maintaining a cumulative grade-point average that meets or exceeds expectations over four consecutive semesters, thereby supporting Purdue's goal of an 85-percent graduation rate. Nine teams earned the award for the 2013-14 season: men's and women's swimming and diving, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's track and field, men's golf, volleyball and wrestling.
The President's Cup was also awarded at the event and is given to the team with the highest GPA from the previous semester. The women's cross country team won the award with an overall combined GPA of 3.47 from the spring semester. The baseball, football and men's tennis teams received the Provost's Award which is given to the program with the most improved GPA from the previous semester.
A number of individual student-athletes were also honored.
Four student-athletes received the Ben Korschot Perseverance Award, an award named for a former football walk-on, is given to individuals who began their career as a walk-on and went on to earn a scholarship and have an impact on their team. Recipients included Collin Link (football), Amanda Neill (volleyball), Enzo Perez (men's golf) and Kylie Vogel (women's swimming and diving).
The final award of the evening was the Durham Brothers Leadership Award, established by former football players John and Bull Durham. The award recognizes underclassmen who have exhibited outstanding leadership both on and off the field through positive attitude, strong work ethic and overall commitment to excellence. Ten student-athletes were bestowed with the honor: Faye Adelaja (volleyball), Kyle Ayersman (wrestling), Christian Cichan (men's golf), Danny Conway (men's swimming and diving), Lilly Fecho (softball), Hayden Hamby (women's basketball), August Kim (women's golf), Robert Kugler (football), Lizzy Lyon (women's swimming and diving) and Maddy Williams (soccer).
The department also honored 43 student-athletes who earned Big Ten Distinguished Scholar Award.
| PURDUE'S 2013-14 BIG TEN DISTINGUISHED SCHOLAR AWARD RECIPIENTS | |
| STUDENT-ATHLETE | SPORT |
| Jon McKeeman | Men's Basketball |
| Hayden Hamby | Women's Basketball |
| Cody Davis | Football |
| Danny Etling | Football |
| Jimmy Herman | Football |
| Robert Kugler | Football |
| Shane Mikesky | Football |
| Justin Sinz | Football |
| Shae Desmond | Soccer |
| Mollie Kuramoto | Soccer |
| Taylor Niewoit | Soccer |
| Soraya Toppin-Herbert | Soccer |
| Paris Andrew | Softball |
| Mary Gooding | Softball |
| Lexy Moore | Softball |
| Andie Varsho | Softball |
| Evan Barta | Men's Swimming & Diving |
| Manuel Gutierrez | Men's Swimming & Diving |
| Bo Ilgenfritz | Men's Swimming & Diving |
| Jacob McGough | Men's Swimming & Diving |
| Julia Comodeca | Women's Swimming & Diving |
| Anji Li | Women's Swimming & Diving |
| Lizzy Lyon | Women's Swimming & Diving |
| Carly Marshall | Women's Swimming & Diving |
| Casey Matthews | Women's Swimming & Diving |
| Mark Kovacs | Men's Tennis |
| Szymon Tatarczyk | Men's Tennis |
| Lynda Xepoleas | Women's Tennis |
| Kevin Griffith | Men's Track & Field |
| Dillon Hinen | Men's Track & Field |
| Brett Klosterhoff | Men's Track & Field |
| Matt McClintock | Men's Track & Field |
| Caleb Reiff | Men's Track & Field |
| Autumn Beachy | Women's Track & Field |
| Linsey Daluga | Women's Track & Field |
| Kathryn Graf | Women's Track & Field |
| Shari Lund | Women's Track & Field |
| Rachel Davis | Volleyball |
| Hilliary Fox | Volleyball |
| Katie Griffin | Volleyball |
| Camden Eppert | Wrestling |
| Andrew Hoselton | Wrestling |
| Andrew Wiseman | Wrestling |
Denotes student-athletes with 4.0 GPA