INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -– State Sen. Ron Alting (R-Lafayette) will present the Purdue University men’s and women’s basketball teams today with Senate Concurrent Resolutions honoring their successful seasons.

The Boilermaker men made history with their first Big Ten Tournament Championship this year, beating Ohio State Buckeyes 65-61 after trailing by five at halftime. Purdue also defeated Penn State and Illinois on the way to the final game.

Boilermaker men made history with their first Big Ten Tournament Championship this year, beating Ohio State Buckeyes 65-61 after trailing by five at halftime.

“This is one of the most determined teams I’ve seen out of West Lafayette,” Alting said. “Injuries, illness and a couple of bad games couldn’t keep these players down, so they were very deserving of the big win.”

This year’s championship played a role in helping Purdue enter the NCAA tournament as the number five seed in the West Regional, according to Alting. For the first time since 2000, the Boilermakers advanced in the national tournament to the Sweet Sixteen.

Men’s head coach Matt Painter is in his fourth season at Purdue and was named 2008 Big Ten Coach of the Year. Painter and his team contributed to Purdue’s claim on the record for most wins in the Big Ten Tournament Championship and becoming the only Big Ten School with winning records against every basketball program in the conference.

“Both the men and women’s teams showed the entire state what can happen when team work is the focus,” Alting said.

Women’s head coach Sharon Versyp is in her third season in Lafayette and she led her team to a second place finish in the Big Ten Tournament. Purdue’s Women’s Basketball team was one of only three Big Ten teams to move on to this year’s national tournament. The Boilermaker women advanced to the Elite Eight.

“Indiana is a state known for its love for basketball,” Alting said. “Purdue Boilermakers are carrying on a Hoosier tradition with both teams giving impressive showings on the national level.”

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -– The Purdue men’s swimming and diving team earned two conference crowns and broke nine records Thursday inside the Boilermaker Aquatic Center during the first day of the Big Ten Championships.

“We were really worried about today, because we knew today was our worst day of the meet,” head coach Dan Ross said. “On the first day, we didn’t have anybody swimming their best event if you say (Andrew) Langenfeld’s best event is the 100 fly. Everything just fell into place. The first leg of the 400 medley relay was unbelievable. Tim Watts had never been under 50.4, and he goes 47.6. We’re only 12 points out of second place. We wanted to be in that battle, and after the first day, which is not a very good day for us, we are.”

Andrew Langenfeld won the 50 freestyle while breaking facility, conference and school records.

The Boilermakers started Thursday night’s session with a fury as the 200-yard freestyle relay team broke Purdue’s longest-standing school record. Andrew Langenfeld, Ben Wachtel, John Schmitt and Daniel Jung finished second in a time of 1:17.91 that shatters the previous school record of 1:19.50 set in 1998.

Langenfeld continued his record-breaking ways in the 50 freestyle. The senior from Centralia, Ill., won the event in a Doris Z. Holloway Pool, Big Ten and school-record time of 19.34 that betters the NCAA ‘A’ standard. Langenfeld held the school record entering the day and took the pool record, which was 19.44 clocked by Matt Grevers of Northwestern in 2004, with his 19.38 time during the afternoon session.

“It was a great day,” Langenfeld said. “I was really excited. I was a little concerned initially when I got mono (in December), how that would affect my taper and everything, but I kept my eye on the prize, tried to stay as focused as possible and it worked out for the 50. I’m really happy about everything.”

Freshman David Boudia also left the Boilermaker Aquatic Center with a title and three records to his name. The Noblesville, Ind., native won the 1-meter competition with his score of 446.65 points, which shattered the previous Big Ten record of 388.55 set in 2008 by Indiana’s Landon Marzullo. Boudia’s score also broke the Doris Z. Holloway pool record of 402.45 and the Purdue record of 419.85, both already owned by the Purdue freshman.

“It definitely was exciting winning,” Boudia said. “I didn’t have a very good prelim this morning, and I really just wanted to come back and dive like I know how. It was good to have all the support from the rest of my team and the fans.”

In the final event of the day, Purdue broke another school record. Watts, Aaron Koger, Langenfeld and Schmitt finished fourth with a time of 3:11.04 that lowers the quartet’s school record of 3:12.61 set two weeks ago against Indiana.

In the afternoon session, Jung broke the Purdue freshman record in the 50 freestyle. His time of 20.22 eclipsed the previous mark of 20.43 set by David Weis in 2001. In the final, Jung finished 23rd after stopping the clock in 20.48.

Team captain Schmitt met the NCAA ‘B’ standard and improved his standing in second on Purdue’s all-time performance list while placing ninth in the 50 freestyle with his time of 19.82. The senior from Evansville, Ind., moved to second on the all-time list in the afternoon session after touching the wall in 19.96.

Sophomore David Colturi finished third in the 1-meter event with his personal-best score of 389.95 that moves him behind only Boudia on Purdue’s all-time performance list in the event. Juniors Kyle Mitrione and Danny Cox placed ninth and 10th, respectively, in the 1-meter competition. Junior Andre Koop finished 21st in the 200 IM with his time of 1:49.37. His time of 1:48.89 in the afternoon session moved him to fifth on Purdue’s all-time performance list in the event.

In addition to the swimmers that advanced to Thursday night’s finals, Purdue earned 11 season-best times during the afternoon session. The 50 freestyle saw six Boilermakers swim a season-best time as Ben Wachtel touched the wall in 20.59, Brendan Joyce finished in 20.68, Jimmy Brooks stopped the clock in 20.84, Gage Barry completed the race in 20.96, Kyle House swam 20.98 and Chris Pfaff finished in 21.09.

In the 500 freestyle, Matt Stewart improved his standing in third on Purdue’s all-time performance list in the event with his 4:26.01 time. Luke Zehrung touched the wall in 4:28.05, which improves his fifth-place standing on Purdue’s all-time performance list in the event. Andre Koop moved to fifth on Purdue’s all-time performance list in the 200 IM with his 1:48.89 time, while Albert Miller and Wyatt Hodges also swam season-best times of 1:51.06 and 1:55.19, respectively.

Michigan leads the Big Ten Championships after day one with 277.5 points. The Wolverines are followed by Minnesota and Indiana with 154 points each. Ohio State rounds out the top five with 136 points. Three Big Ten records and five pool records were broken in Thursday’s six finals.

The meet continues Friday at noon with preliminaries in the 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke and 3-meter diving. The evening session, which features finals in each preliminary event and the 200 medley and 800 free relays, begins at 7 p.m.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. –- The 14th-ranked Purdue men’s swimming and diving team welcomes the rest of the conference this week as the Big Ten Championships begin Thursday inside the Boilermaker Aquatic Center.

“The Big Ten meet is always an exciting meet,” head coach Dan Ross said. “But, hosting for only the second time since 1963 is special. Purdue University is fortunate to have such a fine facility capable of hosting this great event. I invite all of Tippecanoe County to come out and support this event that will include US and International Olympians.”

David Colturi was Purdue's high scorer at last year's Big Ten Championships.

Last season, Purdue put together a school-record point total of 488.5 at the Big Ten Championships and finished fifth. David Colturi was the highest scorer for the Boilermakers after he finished second off the 3-meter springboard, third from the 1-meter and fifth off the 10-meter platform in his first conference championship meet.

In 2009, Purdue has another freshman poised to score from all three diving boards. David Boudia has broken the school record from all three boards and broke a conference record this season when he was named Big Ten Diver of the Week seven times, which bettered the previous record of five. Boudia, a Noblesville, Ind., native and 2008 Olympian, enters the conference championships with victories in his last 18 collegiate diving competitions. This summer, Boudia will represent the USA again after being selected to the World Championships team earlier this month.

The Boilermakers have plenty of weapons in the pool as well. Senior Andrew Langenfeld broke three school records in the season’s final dual meet against Indiana on Feb. 7. The Centralia, Ill., native began his record-setting day by swimming the third leg on Purdue’s 400-yard medley relay team that included Tim Watts, Aaron Koger and John Schmitt. The quartet lowered the previous record by almost one full second. Langenfeld continued by lowering the school record in the 50 freestyle, which he already held, before breaking the 100 butterfly school record.

Schmitt, who finished fifth in the 200 freestyle at the 2007 Big Ten Championships, and sophomore Matt Stewart moved to second on Purdue’s all-time performance lists in the 100 freestyle and 1,000 freestyle, respectively, against Indiana. Stewart also put himself in third place on Purdue’s all-time performance list in the 500 freestyle.

Sam Wilcher, Purdue’s 200 butterfly record holder, earned the team’s highest finish in the pool at last year’s Big Ten Championships as the junior from Arlington Heights, Ill., finished sixth in the event. Purdue’s relay teams all added points to last year’s total, with the 200 and 400 freestyle relay quartets leading the way with sixth-place finishes. The Boilermakers enter the championships with six marks that have met the NCAA ‘B’ standard and all five divers qualified for the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships.

Purdue has 25 individual conference titles. The Boilermakers have earned their highest conference finish, fourth, 11 times. Purdue has hosted five Big Ten Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships, with the most recent coming in 2004. Before that, the Big Ten champion was crowned in West Lafayette in 1939, 1949, 1956 and 1963.

The Big Ten has six ranked teams and five in the top 15, led by defending conference champion Michigan at No. 4. The Big Ten Championships begin Thursday and run through Saturday. Each day of competition features an afternoon session of preliminaries that begins at noon and an evening session of finals that begins at 7 p.m.

Complete championships information, including ticket purchasing options and a schedule of events, can be found at purduesports.com. Live results will be available at purduesports.com, and divemeets.com will provide live video of the diving events. The Big Ten Championships will be broadcast on tape delay by the Big Ten Network on March 7 at noon ET.