WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Twenty-seven Purdue student-athletes were honored as Distinguished Scholar Award recipients by the Big Ten Conference on Wednesday.

The award was established by the Big Ten Faculty Representatives in February in order to supplement the Academic All-Big Ten program. In order to be eligible for the Distinguished Scholar Award, recipients must be in at least their second academic year at the institution and have a minimum GPA of 3.7 for the previous academic year, excluding summer school.

Of Purdue’s 27 recipients, six posted a perfect 4.0 GPA this year. Those individuals are bolded on the complete list below.

The Academic All-Big Ten threshold is a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or higher for their academic career. A total of 150 Boilermaker student athletes garnered Academic All-Big Ten honors during the 2008-09 school year. Purdue’s Distingushed Scholar Award recipients follow.

• Katie Beck, Women’s Swimming & Diving
• David Colturi, Men’s Swimming & Diving
• Scott Dean, Men’s Swimming & Diving
• Matthew DeSilva, Men’s Track & Field
• Danielle Eagan, Women’s Cross Country
• Laura Garriga, Women’s Basketball
• Nan Hammel, Women’s Track & Field
• Joe Holland, Football
• Liane Horiuchi, Softball
• Christine Inman, Women’s Swimming & Diving
• Alex Jaffee, Baseball
• Morgan Lebsack, Women’s Swimming & Diving
• Ashlee Lengacher, Women’s Track & Field
• Luke Manuel, Wrestling
• Danita Merlau, Women’s Volleyball
• Lauren Mioton, Women’s Basketball
• Katie Morrical, Women’s Track & Field
• Tom Oliver, Men’s Golf
• Mallory Peck, Women’s Track & Field
• Loredana Riverso, Soccer
• Kaitlin Seeger, Soccer
• Connor Sestak, Baseball
• Allie Smith, Women’s Swimming & Diving
• Eric Sparks, Men’s Track & Field
• Rachel Stalzer, Women’s Track & Field
• Matt Stewart, Men’s Swimming & Diving
• Mark Wohlford, Men’s Basketball

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — The Purdue women’s swimmers completed their showing at the ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships Friday in Indianapolis.

“The World Championship Trials was a great experience for our swimmers,” head coach John Klinge said. “This was their first competition at the national level for all of them, and they all competed well.”

Ariel Martin

Junior Ariel Martin took to the water Thursday to swim the 50-meter freestyle. Purdue’s school-record holder in the 50-yard freestyle, which is the distance contested in the NCAA, touched the wall in 26.81 seconds. The Jeffersonville, Ind., native, who finished sixth in the event at the Big Ten Championships, broke the previous school record twice at the conference championship meet.

Sophomore Kristen Gilson was the final Purdue swimmer to appear at the national championship meet. She joined the rest of the 200-meter backstroke field Friday morning. The Plano, Texas, native stopped the clock in 2:22.95. Gilson, who holds Purdue’s freshman record in the 400-yard IM, ranks second on Purdue’s all-time performance list in the 200-yard backstroke.

Kristen Gilson

The meet, held at the IU Natatorium on the campus of IUPUI, also served as the qualifier for the World Championships. The top-two finishers in each event qualified to represent the USA at the FINA World Championships in Rome, Italy, July 17-Aug. 2.

NBC is scheduled to show tape-delayed footage of the meet Saturday at 1 p.m. ET and Sunday at 2 p.m.

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Purdue junior Allie Smith scored in the 100-meter backstroke Wednesday at the ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships in Indianapolis.

“This was a great experience for Allie to race at the national level,” head coach John Klinge said. “It’s exciting that she was able to score at her first national championships.”

Smith put herself in scoring position during the morning’s preliminary session by touching the wall in 1:02.49 and placing 16th. The Green Bay, Wis., native then stopped the clock in 1:03.03 to finish eighth in the ‘B’ final during the evening session. Smith holds individual Purdue records in the 100- and 200-yard backstroke and the 200-yard IM and also led off the fastest 400-yard medley relay in school history.

Allie Smith finished 16th in the 100-meter backstroke Wednesday at the ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships.

Sophomore Lauren Roth opened the meet Tuesday with a 26th-place swim in the 400-meter freestyle after stopping the clock in 4:18.90. The Carrollton, Texas, native returned to the pool Wednesday and swam a time of 2:05.47 in the 200 freestyle. Earlier this year, Roth broke Purdue freshman records in the 200-yard freestyle and 200-yard butterfly on consecutive days.

Incoming freshman Caitlin Hamilton also swam the 400-meter freestyle on Tuesday. The Normal, Ill., native, who won the state championship in the 500-yard freestyle earlier this year, completed Tuesday’s preliminary round in 4:32.22.

Junior Ariel Martin and sophomore Kristen Gilson keep Purdue’s presence in the pool for the rest of the week. Martin, who holds the school record in the 50-yard freestyle, takes on the 50-meter freestyle field Thursday. Gilson, Purdue’s freshman record holder in the 400-yard IM, is set to swim the 200-meter backstroke Friday.

The meet, held at the IU Natatorium on the campus of IUPUI, also serves as the qualifier for the World Championships. The top-two finishers in each event will represent the USA at the FINA World Championships in Rome, Italy, July 17-Aug. 2.

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue divers Kara Cook and David Colturi each participated in a final Tuesday at the World University Games in Belgrade, Serbia.

Kara Cook (shown here at the 2009 Big Ten Swimming and Diving Championships) finished fifth in the synchronized platform competition Tuesday at the World University Games. (Photo by gadknows via flickr)

Cook placed fifth in the synchronized platform competition while contesting her second event in as many days. The junior from The Woodlands, Texas, teamed with Southern Methodist University junior Audra Egenolf to score 252.69 points in the event, which was won by the Chinese team of Lishi Lao and Ni Chin. Monday, Cook finished 16th after scoring 218.80 points off the platform.

Colturi finished sixth in the 1-meter final with his score of 342.90. The junior from Sylvania, Ohio, opened his meet with a 351.05-point performance that placed fourth in the preliminary round before finishing second in his semifinal with 361.00.

Colturi, who won the US platform and synchronized platform titles in April, still has both of those events in front of him. He contests the platform Thursday before teaming with Ohio State junior Sean Moore for the synchronized competition Friday. Live results can be found at purduesports.com.

EVANSTON, Ill. — The Purdue women’s swimming team fell in their first conference meet of the season on Friday, going down to the Northwestern Wildcats 177-118.

The Boilermakers dominated the diving portion of the evening. Ashley Karnes won the 1-meter with a score of 288.62. Casey Matthews finished second at 276.60. In 3-meter, Ashley Beal posted a 302.27 for win, while Matthews was second again, this time at 288.60.

Allie Smith won the 100 back in 56.31 and finished third in the 200 IM in 2:07.94. She also swam the opening leg of the 200 medley relay that finished third. Smith, Sarah Dunleavy, Morgan Lebsack and Ariel Martin posted a 1:46.91, the top Purdue time in the event.

Lauren Roth took home the 500 free with time of 4:57.20. She also finished second in the 1000 free at 10:04.58 and the 200 fly at 2:02.67.

The Boilermakers won 200 free relay, as well. Martin, Lisa Butler, Leah Henninger and Katie Beck finished in 1:35.01 for the win.

Purdue (0-3) stays on the road for a meet at Notre Dame tomorrow afternoon. Swimmers are scheduled to hit the pool at 2 p.m. ET.