WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The track & field teams wrapped up what proved to be one of the most successful and historical seasons in program history. The year, with both indoor and outdoor seasons, saw three top-four finishes at Big Ten Championships and a pair of top-15 national finishes, 14 first team All-America honors, 19 second teamers and nine Honorable Mentions, among numerous other accomplishments.
MEN'S NATIONAL FINISHES
For the first time in program history, the men finished top 15 in the country at both the NCAA Indoor and Outdoor Championships. The Boilermakers finished 13th in the country with 15 points at the NCAA Indoor Championships, the program's best showing since 2004 and the second-best indoor finish in program history. Outdoors, the men tied for 15th with 14 points, which is the program's best finish since 1972. The finish is tied for the eighth-best outdoor finish in program history.
Indoors, the men's finish was the highest of any Big Ten team at the national meet. Outdoors, the men were third among conference schools, just one point behind the second-best Big Ten finish and three behind the top placer.
The men were one of just 10 teams in the country to finish top 15 indoors and outdoors this year. The combined national finishes for the Boilermakers - 29 points and 28 places - were 13th and 12th best in the country, respectively. Both were the best in the Big Ten this year. Those totals are also the best in program history. The previous best combined point total was 28 in 2004, while the previous best combined finish was 49 places in 2003. The men have scored at both the indoor and outdoor championships just 15 times prior to this season.
ALL-AMERICANS
The Boilermakers had seven first team All-Americans at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, as well as 11 second teamers and nine Honorable Mentions. Combined with the seven first team All-Americans and eight second teamers indoors, Purdue finished the year with 14 first team All-America honors, 19 second team and nine honorable mention, making 2016 the most successful year in program history.
The men's six outdoor first team All-Americans is tied for the most by a Big Ten school this season. The combined seven outdoor first team All-Americans is the second most in the conference.
Ten of Purdue's 14 first team All-America honors were firsts in program history for the specific event. The men's indoor 4x400-meter relay team of Nicholas Parks, Kinard Rolle, Kyle Webb and Shawndail McLaren became the first to ever earn first team honors indoors or outdoors for the men. Outdoors, the men's 4x400m relay team of Parks, Webb, Kendal Frederick and McLaren became the first outdoor men's mile relay team in program history to earn first team honors. Devynne Charlton finished third indoors in the 60-meter hurdles to become the first Purdue woman to earn first team honors in the event. Jessica Harter rounds out the group, as she became the first woman in program history to earn first team honors in the outdoor pole vault.
Chukwuebuka Enekwechi grabbed the other four first team All-America honors this year, including two last weekend. He finished runner-up in the weight throw and outdoor shot put, was fourth in the indoor shot put and sixth in the hammer throw.
Outdoors, the women's 4x100m relay team of Autumn Heath, Carmiesha Cox, Savannah Roberson and Savannah Carson were second team All-Americans. The indoor and outdoor women's 4x400m relay team of Aarin Jones, Symone Black, Cox and Brionna Thomas also earned second team honors. Obokhare Ikpefan was a second teamer in the men's 400-meter hurdles, while Micaela Hazlewood earned second team honors in the discus. Janae' Moffitt earned second team honors in the high jump outdoors in her first career national championship meet. Indoors, Katie Hoevet was a second teamer in the mile, Carson earned second team honors in the women's long jump and Anaquan Peterson was a second teamer in the men's triple jump. Thomas qualified indoors in the 400m dash and earned second team honors.
Nine individuals picked up Honorable Mention honors for the outdoor season. The men's 4x100m relay team of Gerald McGee, Malcolm Dotson, Webb and Parks advanced to the NCAA Championships and picked up the honors. Parks was also Honorable Mention in the 400m dash. Cox did so in the women's 200m dash, Black in the 400m hurdles and Carson in the 100m dash. Chelsie Meeks, in her first career national championship meet, was Honorable Mention in the discus.
BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
The women's team finished runner-up at the Big Ten indoor championships, the program's best finish since 2001, and scored the third-highest total in program history with 102 points. The women won titles in the 60m hurdles, high jump and 4x400m relay, and were runners-up in the mile, 400m dash, 60m dash, distance medley relay and long jump. The women had one bronze medal with the pole vault.
The women's 4x400m relay team's win was dramatic, as they broke the school record by 4.88 seconds, the SPIRE facility record and the all-time Big Ten Conference indoor record by more than a second. Charlton also broke the school record and SPIRE record with her win in the 60m hurdles. She became the first woman in program history to win the 60m hurdles conference title. Moffitt was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Year after winning the high jump conference title, giving the women their second consecutive indoor freshman of the year honor, after Black won it a year ago. Charlton was named the Track Athlete of the Championships with her 60m hurdles win, 60m dash runner-up and fourth-place effort in the 200m dash.
The women finished fourth outdoors at the conference championships with 87 points, without defending 100m dash champion and 100m hurdles runner-up Charlton. The score was 19 points behind the co-champions. The women's 4x100-meter relay team won the conference championship for the second year in a row, and just the second time in program history.
After a tough indoor conference championships where the men battled an injured roster to a 12th place finish, the men bounced back and had one of their best conference finishes in program history outdoors. At the outdoor championships, the men had their best finish since 2003, finishing third with 87 points. The finish was also tied for the fourth-best in program history. Enekwechi was the conference champion in the hammer throw for the third year in a row, after winning the weight throw title indoors, and was runner-up in the shot put. Enekwechi picked up the Big Ten Field Athlete of the Year and Big Ten Athlete of the Championships honors both indoors and out.
REGIONAL QUALIFIERS
Since Lonnie Greene took over as the head coach, the Boilermakers have had more and more individuals make the trip to the NCAA East Preliminary Round, formerly known as regionals. This year was no different, as the Boilermakers sent 34 athletes in 35 events to Jacksonville, Florida. It was the most the Boilermakers have ever qualified and 14 more than a year ago.
Among the eight Big Ten schools in the East Region, the Boilermakers had the most entries. Combined with the west, Purdue's total ranks third. The women qualified 21 entries, which was the most in the east and tied for the second most overall among conference schools. To qualify for regionals, student-athletes had to be among the top-48 declared individuals in their event. For relays, the top 24 schools made the trip, while for multi-events, the top 12 in each region earned an automatic trip to the NCAA Championships.
MR. EVERYTHING - CHUK ENEKWECHI
The fifth-year senior from Laurelton, New York, seemed to do it all throughout his career. His historic time at Purdue ended at the NCAA Outdoor Championships last week, but not before scoring 11 points and adding a pair of first team All-America honors to his name. Enekwechi scored 24 total points at indoor and outdoor NCAA Championships this season, which on its own would tie him for the 13th most combined points by any team at the two meets. His total is more than any other men's Big Ten team amassed during the two national championships meets this year, surpassing Wisconsin's 22 and Nebraska's 21 as the closest competitors.
Enekwechi swept every major award he could this year. Indoors, he was voted by the conference coaches as the Big Ten Field Athlete of the Year and Big Ten Field Athlete of the Championships. The Great Lakes Region coaches then voted him the Great Lakes Region Field Athlete of the Year. He added five Big Ten Field Athlete of the Week awards during the indoor campaign for good measure, which tied him for the most indoor awards in a single season in Big Ten history.
Outdoors was much of the same. The conference coaches again tabbed him Big Ten Field Athlete of the Year and Big Ten Field Athlete of the Championships, his third straight season sweeping those awards dating to last year outdoors. The region coaches decided on him as their designee for Great Lakes Region Field Athlete of the Year. He was named the Big Ten Field Athlete of the Week twice, which gave him a career total of 16 such honors to break the conference record, which was 15.
This week, Enekwechi added another huge award to his trophy case as he was tabbed the 2016 Purdue Male Athlete of the Year by a vote of athletic department staffers. The award winner, which can be a male athlete in any sport, goes up against the other 13 Big Ten schools' winners to determine who will be the Big Ten Male Athlete of the Year.
This year alone, Enekwechi was a four-time first team All-American, including runner-up finishes in the weight throw and outdoor shot put. He also was fourth in the indoor shot put and sixth in the hammer throw, giving him his 24 points at NCAA meets. He was a two-time first team All-Big Ten selection, the most an athlete can be in a given year, after winning the weight and hammer throws, and scored 36 points at the conference meets. He has the No. 2 weight throw mark in the world for the year. He broke two school records this year, the indoor and outdoor shot puts, and already had owned the weight throw and hammer throw program standards.
Enekwechi's hammer throw win at the Big Ten Championships was his third in a row. No man prior has ever won three hammer throw titles in a career. The win helped him earn the conference athlete of the championship honors, and he became just the second athlete in Big Ten history to win both a Big Ten Athlete of the Year and Big Ten Athlete of the Championships award in consecutive outdoor seasons, and the first since 2001 and 2002. Enekwechi is the first Big Ten man since 2003 and 2004 to win back-to-back athlete of the year awards in the outdoor season and just the fourth man in conference history to do so. He is the only thrower in Big Ten history to win back-to-back outdoor Big Ten Athlete of the Championship awards and just the fourth male athlete in conference history to win it in consecutive years. The last time it happened was in 2001 and 2002.
Enekwechi finishes his career with 13 All-America honors, including eight first team and four second team accolades, which is the most in Purdue track history. He scored 45 points at NCAA Championship events during his career, also a Purdue record, and an incredible 109 points at Big Ten Championships.
BEST RANKINGS IN PROGRAM HISTORY
The men and women were both ranked top-16 in the country heading into the NCAA Indoor Championships, the only Big Ten team ranked in the top 25 in both genders. The men were ranked 13th - the same spot they would finish the meet - which tied for the program's best in-season ranking in history with the week prior. The two final in-season polls for the indoor season are the only time in program history the men have been ranked in the top 15. The men's 13th-place finish indoors was their second best in program history.
The men were top 25 in six of the seven indoor polls, as well as the preseason poll. Previously, the most top-25 rankings in a single indoor season was three, which came last year.
The women's team was ranked 16th in the pre-NCAA Indoor Champions poll, which was their highest ranking of the season, and up from 48th where they started the year. The No. 16 ranking is the sixth highest in-season ranking in program history and just two spots behind the all-time program record ranking of 14th.
Outdoors, the men earned their highest ranking in program history, coming in at No. 15 in the week 8 poll. Prior to this season, the highest the men had been was No. 23 in a preseason poll, while the highest in-season ranking was No. 27. The men earned rankings of No. 16 and No. 15 before finishing 15th at the national championships.
The women's team finished the 2016 outdoor season with the No. 1 ranking in the Great Lakes Region. The Boilermakers were ranked ahead of teams that included Michigan, Ohio State, Michigan State, Wisconsin, Indiana and Notre Dame, among several others.
SCHOOL RECORDS
The Boilermakers broke 21 school records this year, with 10 indoors and 11 outdoors. The men's and women's teams combined for 24 entries at the indoor and outdoor national championship meets. Of those 24, 19 own the school record in the respective event, while two others rank second in program history. Two of the remaining three are in the top five in program history.
Savannah Carson broke school records in the 60-meter and 100-meter dashes, while running the anchor leg of the school-record 4x100m relay team. She also leapt the second best marks in the indoor and outdoor long jumps. The previous 60-meter and 100-meter dash records, as well as the 4x100m relay, stood for less than a year.
Devynne Charlton broke the school record in the 60-meter hurdles and 200m dash, while also running the second-fastest 60m dash. She redshirted the outdoor season after sustaining an injury. The previous indoor 200m dash record had stood for exactly one year, while she broke her own 60m hurdles record from last year.
Brionna Thomas broke the school record in the indoor and outdoor 400m dashes and was the anchor leg for the indoor school record 4x400m relay. She is also a member of the outdoor 4x400m relay school record team, though that record was set last year. The previous indoor 400m and 4x400m records had stood for a year, while the outdoor 400m hung around for 29 years.
Katie Hoevet broke the school record in the indoor mile and also ran a leg of the school record distance medley relay team. The previous mile school record had stood for 28 years, while the DMR record lasted one year.
Carmiesha Cox broke the school record in the outdoor 200m dash, ran the second leg of the indoor 4x400m relay school record team and was the second leg of the 4x100m relay school record. She is also a member of the outdoor 4x400m school record that was set last year. The previous 200m dash record lasted less than a year.
Jessica Harter broke the school record in the women's outdoor pole vault. The previous record stood for six years.
Micaela Hazlewood broke the school record in the women's discus throw. The previous record lasted nine years.
Autumn Heath and Savannah Roberson ran the first and third legs, respectively, of the women's 4x100m relay school record.
Symone Black broke the 400-meter hurdles school record, was the third leg of the indoor women's 4x400m relay school record and ran a leg of the school record distance medley relay team. She is also a member of the outdoor 4x400m relay school record team that set the mark last season. The previous 400m hurdles record was her own from last year.
Aarin Jones ran the lead leg of the women's 4x400m relay indoor school record.
Kiara McIntosh and Vanessa McLeod ran legs of the distance medley relay school record team.
Tate Schienbein broke the men's mile record indoors. The previous record had stood for three years.
Chukwuebuka Enekwechi broke the men's shot put record indoors and out. He also owns the weight throw and hammer throw records, both of which were set last year. The previous indoor record had stood for 11 years, while the outdoor mark lasted 12 years.
Nicholas Parks broke the school record in the outdoor 400m dash, and ran the lead leg of the indoor and outdoor 4x400m relay school records. The previous outdoor 400m dash record had stood for 54 years, while the indoor 4x400m relay record lasted one year. The previous outdoor 4x400m relay was two-years old.
Obokhare Ikpefan broke the school record in the men's 400m hurdles and was the second leg of the outdoor 4x400m relay school record. The previous hurdles record stood for two years.
Shawndail McLaren ran the anchor leg of the indoor and outdoor 4x400m relay school records.
Kyle Webb was a member of the indoor 4x400m relay school record.
Kinard Rolle ran a leg of the indoor 4x400m relay school record.
Kendal Frederick ran the third leg of the outdoor 4x400m relay school record.
BIG TEN MEDAL OF HONOR
The Big Ten's most prestigious award is the conference's Medal of Honor, which is annually given out to the top male and female individual at each institution, in terms of athletic and academic achievement. This year, the track teams swept the awards with Matthew McClintock earning the men's award and Katie Hoevet taking the women's.
Hoevet was 11th indoors in the mile, earning second team All-America honors. She was an All-Great Lakes performer in cross country in the fall and for her career, earned four Big Ten medals in track. Hoevet is a five time USTFCCCA All-Academic selection, five time Academic All-Big Ten and two-time Big Ten distinguished scholar. As a mechanical engineer, she maintained a 3.63 grade point average.
McClintock was a three-time first team All-American, with two in cross country and one in outdoor track. He won the Big Ten title in cross country last fall and was named the conference's Male Athlete of the Year. To his name, he has a Big Ten title in the outdoor 5k and three runner-up finishes. McClintock is a six-time USTFCCCA All-Academic selection, five-time Academic All-Big Ten, two-time Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and, last year, was third team Academic All-America. As a movement and sports science major, he finished with a 3.75 GPA.
GOLDEN PETES
At the end of the academic year, the Purdue athletic department puts on an award show to honor spectacular athletes and performances. The track team picked up its share of awards.
Moffitt won the Female Breakout Athlete of the Year, awarded to the woman who had a breakout year and stepped up and took a leadership role on the team.
Head coach Lonnie Greene was named the Coach of the Year for leading the team during its historical and record-breaking seasons.
McClintock earned the men's Individual Performance of the Year, Single Event for his efforts winning the Big Ten title in cross country in the fall.
Charlton won the women's Individual Performance of the Year, Single Event for her work at the Big Ten Indoor Championships, winning the 60m hurdles, finishing runner-up and in the 60m dash and taking fourth in the 200m dash.
The Team of the Year was awarded to the women's track team, aided largely by its runner-up finish at the Big Ten Indoor Championships.
Dillon Hinen, Patrick Dalton, Caleb Kerr, Harlow Ladd, McClintock, Hoevet, Brooke Kline and Sharise Lund earned Distinguished Scholar Athlete Awards.
Michelle Potter earned a Wooden Leadership Institute Certificate of Achievement.
TRIALS/JUNIORS/OLYMPICS
The collegiate season ended with the NCAA Outdoor Championships, but the Boilermakers are far from done competing.
Enekwechi will hunt down as many meets as possible to try to qualify for the Rio Olympics in the shot put. His school record of 20.37m (66-7.00) is 13 centimeters, about five inches, shy of the Olympic standard. If he hits that mark, Enekwechi will compete for Nigeria.
Cox hit the standard in the women's 200m dash. She will head down to her native Bahamas to compete in the Bahamian Championships and for a spot on their Olympic team. Cox has also turned heads in the 4x100m and 4x400m relays, and will be among those selected for the relay pools.
Rolle will also head down to the Bahamas to compete for a spot on either their Olympic team or the world juniors squad. For the Bahamas, the meet is one in the same for juniors and Olympic trials.
Devynne Charlton had a spot on the Bahamian Olympic team in the 100m hurdles, before her injury sidelined her for the outdoor season and summer.
Black, Parks and Thomas will compete at the U.S. Trials for a spot on the U.S. Olympic team. The three will head back to Eugene, Oregon, where they all just competed for the NCAA Championships. Black will run the 400m hurdles, where she was Honorable Mention, Parks in the 400m dash where he was Honorable Mention, and Thomas will run the 400m dash. She competed in the 4x400m relay.
Yamani Hunter and Janae' Moffitt will head to the U.S. Junior Championships. Hunter has the No. 5 long jump in program history and scored in her inaugural outdoor Big Ten meet, while Moffitt was the indoor Big Ten high jump champion, outdoor conference runner-up and a second team All-American.
Ikpefan is scheduled to compete for a spot on the Nigerian Olympic team in the 400m hurdles. He was Big Ten runner-up in the event as well as second-team All-America.
Newcomers Sekayi Bracey and Chloe Abbott are scheduled to compete at New Balance Nationals. The two women, both from Michigan, combined to win five state championships earlier this month with the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes, the long jump and 4x400m relay.
Myia Dorsey, an incoming freshman sprinter, will compete for the Virgin Islands for the Junior World Championships.
BIG TEN ATHLETES OF THE WEEK
Of the nine weeks that Big Ten Athlete of the Week honors were doled out indoors, the Purdue men won seven field athlete of the week honors. Enekwechi led the way with five, which tied the conference record for most during an indoor season. Peterson and Luke Lewis both added one. Carson was the lone Purdue woman to win an indoor weekly accolade as she was the track athlete of the week after the Boilermakers' season opener in December.
Outdoors, the men picked up two honors, both by Enekwechi. Black picked up the lone honor for the women after her performance in the 400m hurdles in the outdoor opener.
GOVERNOR'S CUP
Purdue and Indiana battle it out for the Governor's Cup, which is an all-sport battle between the two schools. The Boilermaker track teams did their part, scoring three of the possible four points for the track and field seasons. Indoors, the points were decided at the Purdue vs. Indiana Dual, where the women beat the Hoosiers. Outdoors, the points were decided at the Big Ten Championships, where the men and women both finished well ahead of Indiana.
Purdue won the Cup for the third straight year. The finally tally was 12.5 to 7.5, with the Boilermakers tying the all-time record for most points in a single season by one school.
INCOMING CHAMPIONS
The Boilermakers have one of the most talented incoming classes in program history, with a group that won 10 state championships during this past outdoor season, as well as a junior college national championship.
Distance runner Jaret Carpenter won the 3,200-meter and 1,600m run state titles in Minnesota. He also won the cross country state title in the fall, giving him the Triple Crown.
Emma Benner won the women's 3,200-meter run at the Minnesota high school championships.
Sekayi Bracey won the 100m dash and long jump titles at the Lower Peninsula Michigan High School state meet. She also added titles at the Midwest Meet of Champions in the 200m dash and long jump against the best from Michigan, Indiana and Ohio.
Alexis Pierre-Antoine was a member of the 4x100m relay state title team in Illinois. She also finished second in the 300m hurdles and third in the 100m hurdles.
Myia Dorsey won the 400m dash at the Georgia state meet and was third in the 200m. She added a win in the 400m dash at the Jr. Georgia Olympic Prelims and was second in the 200m dash.
Chloe Abbott won the 200m and 400m dashes and was a member of the 4x400m relay state title team in Michigan. She dethroned future teammate and roommate Bracey, who had won the previous three 200m dash state titles.
Jahneya Mitchell was a member of the 4x400m relay national champion team for New Mexico Junior College. She was also runner-up in the 800m.
Also signed, Samara Miller won the 400m dash indoors against the best high schoolers Illinois has to offer. Trenton Fanta was indoor runner-up in the shot put and the Indiana state meet.
The Boilermakers have several other talented individuals scheduled to be a part of the team for the 2017 seasons.