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GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 28 • 7 considered his strongest. Yet, his score of 468.15 was only a half-point shy of Purdue's record, set by Olympic Gold medalist David Boudia. After winning the consolation final of the 3-meter springboard the next day, Johnson had an opportunity on his top specialty, the platform, and came through, winning with a score of 532.70. He became Purdue's third national champion, joining Boudia and women's diver Casey Matthews. Johnson won, Purdue diving coach Adam Soldati said, because he was able to translate his have-fun approach into a high- anxiety meet. "We got a little closer to that at NCAA, where he would come over and I could see the anxiety start to build a little bit," Soldati said. "And I'd say 'OK, we just need to relax a little bit. You know how to execute the dive.' That's where the battle is won." NO. 4: TRACK PROGRAM RISES In February, Coach Lonnie Greene said the days of the Boilermaker track programs being irrelevant were over. They were more than just words. Particularly in the women's program, the Boilermakers took a step toward the consistency they desire, as a force in the Big Ten. The Purdue women finished in sixth place in the Big Ten Outdoor Championships in May, but did so with an overwhelmingly young roster. Of Purdue's 67.5 points at the conference meet, only 1.5 of them came from athletes who will graduate. The finish comes off the heels of a third-place showing at the Big Ten Indoor Championships. The Boilermaker women have excelled with speed, racking up big points from their sprinters and relay teams. At the Big Ten meet, Purdue won the 4x100-meter relay, with its time of 44.65 seconds nearly breaking the record it had set earlier in the year. Sophomore Devynne Charlton won two gold medals, as part of the relay and in the 100-meter dash, with a school record 11.37 seconds. She was second in the 100 hurdles. Symone Black, the indoor Big Ten Freshman-of-the-Year, won the 400 and helped the Boilermakers' 4x400 team finish third. While the men hoped for a better team finish — the Boilermakers were eighth in the outdoor meet and 11th in the indoors — they had great individual performances. Senior Chukwuekuka Enekwechi was named the Big Ten Field Athlete-of-the- Year after his performance outdoors, in which he broke school, facility, conference championship and Nigerian National records with a hammer throw of 72.77 meters to win gold. He also finished sixth in the shot put. Junior Matthew McClintock took first in the 5K in 14:15.38 and was second in the 10K. Senior Tyler Askew finished second in the long jump. Even though the team finish was in the lower half of the Big Ten, only 13 of their 54 points are set to graduate. It leaves Greene feeling good about the future. Good thing, because he has lofty expectations. "I want to win," the third-year coach said. "I want to go to the Big Ten Championships and know that we are a factor and relevant. I don't want to go into the Championships knowing that there's a possibility we aren't going to be effective here." NO. 5: FINALLY, THE FIRST It may have taken 10 games and a year-plus, but on Oct. 4, 2014, Darrell Hazell finally notched his first Big Ten victory as a head coach. And, perhaps appropriately, it came in a new quarterback's first career start. Purdue's quarterback carousel hasn't stopped spinning in Hazell's first two seasons — and there are no indications it's settled for Year 3 — but sophomore Austin Appleby was at the center of the first conference victory. Tom Campbell Quarterback Austin Appleby led the Boilermakers to the highlight of their 2014 season when he guided Purdue to a win at Illinois, the first Big Ten victory for Coach Darrell Hazell.