Purdue Sports Update: August 14

Soccer kicks off schedule against IU

 The second year of the Moodie era, and the 28th season of Purdue Soccer begins with the home opener at Folk Field against Indiana State on Thursday, August 14, at 7:00 p.m. ET. 

Purdue’s roster features one fifth year, four seniors, eight juniors, two sophomores, and nine freshmen. The Boilers hail from 10 different countries, including Argentina, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Iceland, Spain, Sweden, the United States and Venezuela.

The Boilers are 17-8-2 all-time in season openers, and 10-3-1 since 2015. In 28 seasons of Purdue soccer, the Boilers have opened at home in all but four years, 2002, 2008, 2011, and 2020-21. In the 2024 season, Purdue defeated Washington State in the season and home opener with a one-nil shutout over the Cougars.

The Boilers return key experience in juniors Emily Edwards and Zoe Cuneio, as well as transfer, Megan Santa Cruz. The trio was named All-Big Ten Preseason Players to Watch for the upcoming 2025 season.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS

In 2024, the Indiana State Sycamores finished the season with a winning record of 10-6-5, going 4-3-3 in the Missouri Valley Conference. In the MVC tournament, the Sycamores defeated Southern Illinois 2-1 in the first round, before falling to Belmont one-nil in the quarterfinals.

Indiana State is led by the talents of senior defender Brooklyn Woods who was named to the MVC preseason All-Conference team after being named All-Midwest Region for the first time in her career during the 2024 season.

SERIES HISTORY

Against the Sycamores, the Boilers have a 4-0 record, with the last time the two played being back in 2017. The first match between the two teams took place in 2003, where the Boilers defeated Indiana State 2-0. Of the four matches, the Boilers have played three at home, which will continue with the game on Thursday. The Boilers have scored 14 goals against Indiana State, where the Sycamores have been held scoreless in all four matches.

BIG TEN PRESEASON PLAYERS TO WATCH

The trio of Cuneio, Edwards, and Santa Cruz were named to the Big Ten preseason Players to Watch list ahead of the upcoming game on Thursday.

In the 2024 season, Cuneio started and played in all 18 matches for the Boilers, with the highest number of total minutes played on the team. Cuneio earned one assist on the season, with two of her three shots being on goal.

Edwards was in goal for 15 of the 18 matches, earning 1.19 GAA average, with a 0.761 SV% and six shutouts. She earned a spot in the record books tying for 6^th in most shutouts in a season and 9^th for fewest goals against in a season.

Santa Cruz, a Washington State transfer, was All-WCC Honorable mention, and played and started in all 19 games. Santa Cruz had three goals with five assists while playing over 1,300 minutes for the Cougars.

PROMOTIONAL SCHEDULE

Camper Reunion: Come join us for poster and button making, as well as bounce houses!

Women’s Golf announces schedule

Entering his fourth season leading Women’s Golf, head coach Zack Byrd announced the 2025-26 schedule that features a pair of home tournaments along with trips to six states, Canada and Puerto Rico.  

Purdue looks to start the season off with a victory as two-time defending champions of the Boilermaker Classic (Sept. 1-2). The 54-hole stroke play tournament will be contested on the Kampen-Cosler Course at the Birck Boilermaker Golf Complex.

After the season-opening home tournament, Purdue heads to Michigan to compete in the Wolverine Invitational (Sept. 7-8). Two weeks later, the Boilermakers travel north of the border for the Canadian Collegiate Invitational at Beacon Hall GC in Aurora, Ontario.

Closing out a busy first month of the season, Purdue returns to the Windy City Collegiate Classic (Sept. 29-30). The Boilermakers conclude the fall by going to Chapel Hill, North Carolina for the Ruth’s Chris Tar Heel Invitational (Oct. 17-19).

Flipping the calendar to 2026, the Boilermakers serve as hosts of the annual Purdue Puerto Rico Classic at Grand Reserve Golf Club in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico (Feb. 1-3). A regular on the schedule from 2003-20, Byrd brought the tournament back for the third straight season.

Purdue returns to two more tournaments that were on the schedule the past two seasons. The Boilermakers tee it up at the Spartan Sun Coast Invitational in Sarasota, Florida (Feb. 15-16) and the Briar’s Creek Invitational on Johns Island, South Carolina (March 16-17). Nestled in between the two events is the one-day Shootout at Wachesaw at Murrells Inlet, also in Byrd’s home state of South Carolina (March 9).

Ending the month of March, the Boilermakers travel to St. Augustine, Florida to defend their title at the Coach Mo Classic (March 30-31). Serving as the final tune-up before the conference championship, Purdue welcomes teams back to West Lafayette for the Boilermaker Spring Classic. The spring tournament will take place on the other BBGC Pete Dye course, Ackerman-Allen (April 12-13).

After venturing to the east coast the past two years to compete for a conference title, Purdue travels more than 2,000 miles for the 2026 Big Ten Championships. The league tournament is set to take place at Oakmont Country Club in Glendale, California (April 24-26).

Rounding out the schedule, the Boilermakers plan to hear their names called for postseason play in one of six NCAA Regionals (May 11-13) with sights set on a third straight trip to the NCAA Championships in Carlsbad, California (May 22-27).

Samantha Brown and Lauren Timpf are a pair of sophomores that look to lead the team and welcome several newcomers. Brown cracked the lineup in all 14 tournaments a season ago, helping Purdue win a pair of tournament titles. Timpf played in 12 tournaments as a freshman, and her strong play at the NCAA Lubbock Regional was a key factor in the Boilermakers punching their ticket to the NCAA Championships. Michael Headlee also returns experience after competing as an individual in six tournaments throughout her freshman campaign. Transfers Ashley Kim (Arkansas State) and Ella Weber join incoming freshmen Ida Lindqvist (Sundsvall, Sweden) and Luana Valero (Medellin, Colombia) as the four newest Boilermakers.    

Sapp Unveils 2025-26 Purdue Men’s Golf Schedule

Coming off an appearance in the 2025 National Championships, men’s golf head coach Andrew Sapp has announced the 2025-26 schedule, starting later this month.

Under Sapp a year ago, his first year at the helm, the Boilermakers won three tournaments and advanced to the National Championships for the second straight year. Purdue is looking for its third straight trip to the LaCosta Resort in Carlsbad, California, and the National Championships for the first time since making 19 straight appearances from 1949 to 1967.

Headlined by returning first-team All-Big Ten selection Sam Easterbrook and honorable mention All-America honoree Supapon Amornchaichan, the Boilermakers return four of its six key performers from a year ago as well as welcoming a talented group of newcomers, featuring Indiana high school state champion Will Harvey, Norwegian standout Leo Aaraas and South Carolina transfer Andre Zhu.

Purdue will open the season on Aug. 31, when it looks to defend its title at the Island Resort Intercollegiate at Sage Run Golf Club in Harris, Michigan. The Boilermakers won last year’s event by 13 shots and placed four players in the top 20.

Three weeks later (Sept. 19 to 21), the Boilermakers will head to one of America’s great courses for the Olympia Fields Invitational, hosted by Illinois. The tournament, played at Olympia Fields Country Club outside Chicago, typically features several of the nation’s top programs. The event starts a string of four consecutive weekends in action.

On Sept. 29, Purdue returns to suburban Chicago for the Windon Memorial Classic, held at Knollwood Country Club in Lake Forest, Illinois. The following week, the Boilermakers look to improve on their runner-up finish from last year at the Fighting Irish Invitational at Warren Golf Course in South Bend, Indiana.

On Oct. 13-14, Purdue returns home for the only time during the 2025-26 season when it hosts the Purdue Fall Invitational at the Kampen-Cosler Course.

Purdue then wraps up its fall campaign on Oct. 25 and 26 at the Steelwood Collegiate at Steelwood Country Club in Loxley, Alabama. It will be Purdue’s first trip to the event.

Purdue starts the spring season on Feb. 9 to 11, looking to repeat its title from last year at the Puerto Rico Classic at the Grand Reserve Golf Club in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico. Purdue won for the first time in 27 appearances at the event, defeating No. 1 Ole Miss by six shots.

A month later on March 22, Purdue aims for its second straight title at the Hootie at Bulls Bay in Awendaw, South Carolina. Last year, Purdue won a dramatic playoff over No. 19 South Carolina to win the Bulls Bay Championship.

On April 5, Purdue heads to Florida for the small, but mighty Calusa Cup at Calusa Pines Golf Club in Naples, Florida. Just nine teams compete in the event that typically has several of the nation’s top teams involved.

Purdue will then close out its regular season by traveling to Bloomington for the Hoosier Collegiate on April 18 and 19.

The Big Ten Championships will be held May 1 to 3, at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in North Plains, Oregon.

The NCAA Regional Championships will be held on May 18 to 20, at six locations around the country: Athens, Georgia (University of Georgia Golf Course); Bermuda Run, North Carolina (Bermuda Run Country Club); Bryan, Texas (Traditions Club); Columbus, Ohio (Ohio State Golf Club); Corvallis, Oregon (Trysting Tree Golf Club); Marana, Arizona (The Gallery Golf Club).

For the third straight year, The Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California, will host the NCAA Championships, running from May 29 to June 3.

Aniamaka Wins Triple Jump Title at Canadian Championships

Track & Field’s Praise Aniamaka took home the triple jump title at the 2025 Canadian Track & Field Championships on Sunday (Aug. 3).

The native of Surrey, British Columbia jumped 16.50m (+2.1) to win the title by 0.38m. The victory comes after he finished fourth at the 2024 Canadian Championships with a jump of 15.46m.

Aniamaka added to his 2025 success after he won the Big Ten Indoor triple jump title and finished fifth at the NCAA Indoor Championships to earn First Team All-American status. He is a four-time All-American and three-time Big Ten Champion in his career.

He will return to the Boilermakers for his final season of eligibility during outdoor in 2026.  

Blaze Wins Prestigious Freestyle Tournament in Poland

Wrestler Joey Blaze closed his summer world freestyle tour by winning the title at the 34th annual Waclaw Ziolkowski Memorial Tournament.

Representing Team USA after climbing the national team ladder this summer, Blaze went 3-0 on Sunday competing at 74 kilograms.

The 2025 NCAA runner-up claimed a 4-2 decision over Ivan Kusyak (Ukraine), a pin (leading 12-6) against Otari Bagauri (Georgia), and a 6-2 win in the finals over Mykyta Morhun (Ukraine).

The Ziolkowski Memorial perennially attracts some of the best wrestlers around the globe and is largely considered one of the top freestyle tournaments in Europe.

The 20-year-old Blaze was one of three Americans to win a gold medal in their respective weight classes in Poland. He joined Brayton Lee, a 26-year-old Indiana alumnus, and fellow 2025 All-American Simon Ruiz, a sophomore at Cornell.

Blaze’s win concludes an eventful summer after becoming Purdue’s youngest national finalist since 1950 back in March. He took third place as the No. 7 seed at Senior World Team Trials, defeating four wrestlers with a combined nine All-America honors.

Now that he holds the fourth spot on the national team ladder, he has opened himself up to numerous opportunities on the world stage while donning a USA singlet. He represented his country in a United States vs. Russia dual last month, where he dropped a close but respectable decision to the No. 10-ranked wrestler in the world.

Blaze will now turn his attention to the 2025-26 season as a leader for a talented Boilermaker squad, carrying lots of momentum and a newfound swagger after proving he can hang with the top wrestlers on the planet at any age group.

Wrestling will open its 106th season with the team’s first trip to California in nine years, taking on Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo on Friday, Oct. 31, and Cal State Bakersfield on Sunday, Nov. 2.

Purdue Announces 2025 Cross Country Schedule

Cross country announced its 2025 schedule that features seven races and is set to begin on Aug. 29.

The slate features three races in Indiana, two in Michigan and two in Missouri. Four regular-season races run between late August and mid-October before three postseason races run from late October through late November.

Purdue begins the season on Aug. 29 at the Winrow Valparaiso Open for the fifth consecutive season. The Boilers follow with a trip to East Lansing, Mich., the site of the 2025 Big Ten Cross Country Championships, for the Big Ten Preview on Sept. 12.

Competition continues in October with the Joe Piane – Notre Dame Invitational on Oct. 3 and the regular-season concludes on Oct. 18 at the Pre-Nationals Invitational hosted by Missouri.

Postseason competition begins on Oct. 31 with the Big Ten Championships hosted by Michigan State. The NCAA Great Lakes Regional follows on Nov. 11 in Evansville, Ind. before qualified Boilermakers conclude the season at the NCAA Cross Country Championships on Nov. 22, hosted by Missouri.

Douglas Buckeridge leads the way for Purdue after he took a runner-up finish at the Great Lakes Regional and finished 43rd at the NCAA Championships last season. The men’s team features seven returners and three newcomers, while the women’s team features nine returners and two newcomers.

After the conclusion of the cross country season, Purdue gears up for the indoor and outdoor track & field seasons that will run from January to June.