Purdue Sports Update: August 21

Soccer Starts Season 2-0 for First Time Since 2019

For the first time in six years, Soccer is off to a 2-0 start to the season. The Boilers kept their hot streak rolling on Sunday afternoon, overpowering Ball State 5–2 at the Briner Sports Complex to move to 2–0 on the season.

The Boilermakers controlled the match from start to finish, outshooting the Sycamores 26–4 and holding them to a clean sheet. This victory marks the fifth time the Boilers have defeated Indiana State, and have still held the Sycamores scoreless in all five matches making the deficit 18-0.

Just under two minutes into the match, Irene Campo buried the season’s first goal, slotting home a pass from Megan Santa Cruz. The goal from Campo was her first as a Boilermaker, and the Santa Cruz’s first assist as well.

The pressure never let up, and in the 23rd minute, Chiara Singarella doubled the lead with an unassisted strike that snuck past the Syacamore goalkeeper.

Right before halftime, Lauren Adam capped a dominant first half with a powerful finish to make it 3–0 touching the ball before it landed behind the Indiana State goalkeeper.

Freshman Lilly Bane scored her first career goal in the 84th minute, putting the exclamation point on the night.

Goalkeeper Emily Edwards needed just two saves to secure the clean sheet, thanks to a rock-solid back line.

With four different goal scorers and 14 shots on target, the Boilers showed versatility and depth in the home opener. The Boilermakers also converted six corner kicks into consistent threats, keeping Indiana State pinned in their own half.

For the first time in six years, Soccer is off to a 2-0 start to the season. The Boilers kept their hot streak rolling on Sunday afternoon, overpowering Ball State 5–2 at the Briner Sports Complex to move to 2–0 on the season.

Behind a relentless attack, the Boilermakers once again showed their firepower, outshooting the Cardinals 21–5 while another four goal scorers added their name to the box score in the match.

 Both Irene Campo and Chiara Singarella scored their second goals of the season, while Angelina Thoreson and Megan Santa Cruz joined in on the party.

Santa Cruz, with back-to-back goals in the second half, became first Boilermaker since 2023 to accomplish the feat, and the first since Singarella in 2024 to have a multi-goal half.

The Boilermakers return home in the coming week to take on DePaul and Butler. Against DePaul on August 21, the Boilermakers host the infamous Boiler Gold Rush Game, beginning at 7:00 p.m.

Miller Adds 2 Track & Field Assistant Coaches

Track & field head coach Tony Miller announced the hiring of throws coach Ricardo Page and assistant coach Pashen Williams ahead of the 2025-26 season.

Page returns to Purdue after he served as the throws coach from 2021-24. He spent the 2024-25 season as the head coach of Georgia State’s women’s track & field program and led the Panthers to five qualifiers for NCAA East First Round.

In his three years at Purdue, Page led the throws program to four NCAA Championships qualifiers with Seth Allen (discus) in 2024, Johnny Venos (weight throw) in 2023 and Kelly Cook Jr. (hammer throw) and Kaia Harris (discus) in 2022. He also assisted with decathlete Isaiah Matin’s throwing events when he finished ninth at nationals in 2022.

“Ricardo is very familiar with the Big Ten and knows how to recruit the Big Ten,” said Miller. “He is a really good technical coach and someone this group of throwers admire and look up to. He has a bright vision on where our program can go from a throws perspective.”

Prior to Purdue, Page earned the men’s and women’s track & field and cross country head coaching position at Lane College in 2020-21, but the program opted out of the season due to Covid.

He served as the throws coach at UCF from 2018-20 where he coached two Knights to NCAA East First Round appearances. Page had his first stint at Georgia State as an assistant coach from 2014-18 where he coached the throws to three All-American honors and seven Sun Belt Conference individual titles.

Page was an assistant at Jackson State prior from 2012-14 where he coached the SWAC Champion in discus in 2012. He had his first graduate assistant position at Union College from 2010-11 where he assisted coaching one NAIA national qualifier. He began his collegiate coaching career as volunteer at Southern Mississippi in 2008-09 where he assisted two athletes to the NCAA East First Round.

Williams joins the Boilermakers to begin her full-time collegiate coaching career after she was a sprinter at Jacksonville from 2017-22. She was an eight-time ASUN Champion highlighted by five victories in the 4x400m. She was part of two 4x400m relay teams that qualified for the NCAA East First Round.

She was part of the school record 4x400m relay team both indoors (3:35.79) and outdoors (3:34.18). Her 53.96 in the 400m that won the ASUN outdoor title in 2018 is the No. 3 time in Jacksonville history.

After her collegiate career, Williams worked with current Purdue staff members Miller, Jamaal Barnes and Camille Ross assisting with the track & field team at Louisville from 2022-23 where she was a sports science intern.

“Pashen brought a lot of energy to our team at Louisville,” said Miller. “She is good with the analytical stuff that I like to do. She can help us develop our young sprinters and will be a great asset as we move forward.”

Other post-college work for Williams included working as a research assistant at Jacksonville, physical education teacher at Tallahassee School of Math and Science and STEM teacher at Florida State University Schools.

The hiring of Page and Williams rounds out Purdue’s coaching staff for the 2025-26 season.

Swimming Announces Schedules

ome meets in October, November and January at the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center headline Purdue Swimming & Diving’s 2025-26 schedules.

The Boilermakers have five home meets (three co-ed) on the schedules. Missouri, the Iowa women, the Southern Illinois men and the Illinois women all visit West Lafayette for dual meets.

The home opener is once again the Dan Ross Indiana Intercollegiate on Saturday, Oct. 11. Annually held on a Saturday in October, it features teams of all NCAA divisions from all across the state as the largest home meet of this season. It was renamed in honor of Purdue’s longtime head coach in the summer of 2023, about a month after Ross retired and closed out a 42-year coaching career.

However, the Boilermakers will not be hosting the Purdue Invitational in November for the first time since 2018 (excluding the fall of 2020). Instead, the Boilers will travel to Columbus for their midseason invitational – competing at the Ohio State Invitational. The four-day invite will feature a Tuesday to Friday schedule (Nov. 18-21). The Purdue women won the Ohio State Invitational in their last appearance (November 2014) at the annual midseason showcase. The Purdue men have not attended the meet since the fall of 2011.

The Boilermakers’ season opener is the final weekend of September. After opening in the state of Michigan a year ago for the first time since the 2015-16 campaign, Purdue has committed to return to the Be Better Invitational. Created in the fall of 2022 as a benefit meet supporting the Be Better Foundation, the season-opening meet returns to Michigan’s Canham Natatorium in Ann Arbor. Featuring Hope College and Calvin University as well as the Wolverines, the single-session invite has also been held in Grand Rapids (2022) and Holland (2024). The Be Better Invitational and Foundation promotes mental health awareness in honor of the late Ian Miskelley, a former Michigan swimmer.

Purdue will return to the Great Lakes State for Halloween Weekend, competing against Cincinnati and Oakland at a two-day triple dual in Rochester. The Oakland Aquatic Center is one of the premier facilities in Michigan as a leading factor in OU’s steak of 47 consecutive conference titles for the men and 31 straight for the women.

The Big Ten Championships are in the Upper Midwest this season. Minnesota hosts the women’s championships (Feb. 18-21) for the first time since 2021 and the men’s championships (Feb. 25-28) make their debut at Wisconsin’s Soderholm Family Aquatic Center. The men will get an early look at UW’s pool when they visit Madison for a dual meet on Saturday, Dec. 6.

A revamped meet format will debut at the NCAA Championships in March as Georgia Tech’s McAuley Aquatic Center hosts both national championship meets. Atlanta also hosted both meets as recently as 2022.

The annual two-day Big Ten Triple Duals vs. Minnesota and Northwestern are set to be contested in Evanston this year during the final weekend of January. Purdue is up next in the three-year rotation to host again next season.

Senior Day Weekend is set for Jan. 9-10 and features a visit from the SIU men Friday and the Illinois women Saturday.

SCHEDULE BREAKDOWN
• Home Meets: 5 (3 Co-Ed)
• Season Opener: Michigan’s Be Better Invitational (Sept. 26 in Ann Arbor)
• Home Opener: Dan Ross Indiana Intercollegiate (Oct. 11)
• Senior Day Weekend: Jan. 9-10 – Men vs. Southern Illinois on Friday, Women vs. Illinois (& Men’s Intrasquad) on Saturday
• More Home Duals: Co-Ed vs. Missouri (Oct. 18), Women vs. Iowa (Nov. 7)
• Midseason Showcase: at Ohio State Invitational (Nov. 18-21)
• Dan Ross Indiana Intercollegiate: Boilermakers host schools from around the state for largest home meet (Oct. 11)

CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON
• Big Ten Championships in the Upper Midwest: Women at Minnesota (Feb. 18-21), Men at Wisconsin (Feb. 25-28)
• Zone C Diving Championships: Co-Ed NCAA Championships qualifier expected to be held in Michigan (Projected March 12-14)
• NCAA Championships: Georgia Tech’s McAuley Aquatic Center hosts Women (March 18-21) and Men (March 25-28) as revamped meet format debuts

NATIONALS DURING THE HOLIDAY SEASON
• USA Diving Winter Nationals: Annual end of year showcase – Location TBA (Projected Dates: Dec. 7-14)
• CSCAA Open Water Championship: Selected women race outdoors in Sarasota, Fla. (Dec. 13)

MORE ROAD TRIPS OF NOTE
• Selected Men’s Swimmers Open at Two-Day Florida State Invitational: Sept. 26-27 in Tallahassee
• Halloween Weekend Two-Day Triple Dual in Metro Detroit: Boilermakers vs. Oakland & Cincinnati in Rochester, Mich.
• Men Get Early Look at UW’s Pool Before Big Tens: Dec. 6 in Madison
• Annual Rivalry Dual with Hoosiers: Jan. 24 in Bloomington
• Northwestern Hosts Two-Day Big Ten Triple Duals: Jan. 30-31 in Evanston (also featuring Minnesota)

2025 DAN ROSS INDIANA INTERCOLLEGIATE FIELD (More TBA)
• Purdue, Ball State, Evansville, IU Indy, Southern Indiana, Valparaiso, Indiana Wesleyan, Rose-Hulman, Wabash

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Big Ten Announces 2025 Cross Country Runners to Watch

Cross country’s Douglas Buckeridge and Lauren Pegher were named to the 2025 Big Ten Men’s and Women’s Runners to Watch, announced on Wednesday.

Buckeridge is coming off back-to-back USTFCCCA Great Lakes All-Region campaigns with a runner-up finish in 2024 and a 19th-place finish in 2023. He qualified for the NCAA Cross Country championships last season and finished 43rd, just three places behind All-American status.

In 2024, Buckeridge ran the fastest 8k time (23:11.6) and 10k time (29:12.9) in Purdue history. He also ran the fastest 10k NCAA Championships time (29:27.6) and is the only Boilermaker to break 30 minutes at a national race.

Pegher enters her sophomore season after competing in five races with her best finished 10th in the 5k (18:27.8) at the Winrow-Valparaiso Open. She put together strong indoor and outdoor track & field campaigns headlined by a 4:26.51 in the 1500m that was fifth in school history by a Purdue freshman.

The 2025 cross country season is set to begin on Friday, Aug. 29 at the Winrow-Valparaiso Open.