Purdue’s Amaltdinov and Evans Awarded Big Ten Medal of Honor

by | Apr 24, 2018 | Headlines, RRSN News | 0 comments

Purdue’s Amaltdinov and Evans Awarded Big Ten Medal of Honor

Boilermaker pair joins elite company as part of 104th Big Ten Medal of Honor class

April 24, 2018

ROSEMONT, Ill. – The Big Ten continues its celebration for the 104th class of the Big Ten Medal of Honor, Purdue announced senior Marat Amaltdinov of the swimming and diving team and Ashley Evans of the volleyball program were awarded the prestigious Big Ten Medal of Honor to highlight the sixth-annual Golden Pete Awards show Monday at Holloway Gymnasium.

Amaltdinov was the Big Ten champion in the 200 breaststroke as a sophomore and a junior, becoming Purdue’s first men’s swimmer to repeat at Big Tens since 2004 to 2005. He qualified for the NCAA Championships four years in a row, but opted to pass on his bid in 2016 to train for the Russian Olympic Trials. The following year, Amaltdinov was a championship finalist in the 200 breast at NCAAs, becoming the program’s first swimmer to earn full-fledged All-America honors since 2006.

Amaltdinov was a second-team Academic All-American as a junior (the first Boilermaker men’s swimmer so honored), earning his bachelor’s degree in finance in just three years with a 3.81 grade-point average despite English being his second language. He is set to complete his master’s degree in finance this spring. Amaltdinov established program records in the 200 breaststroke and 400 medley relay during his career. A three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree, he again is an Academic All-America nominee and is in line to earn Big Ten Distinguished Scholar honors for the third year in a row. The two-time first-team All-Big Ten performer was recognized as the Big Ten Swimmer of the Week four times in his career.

Evans, a setter from Liberty Township, Ohio, was a four-year letterwinner for the Boilermakers. As a senior, she earned All-America and Academic All-America honors, becoming just the fourth student-athlete in program history to do so in the same season. Evans is the first Big Ten volleyball student-athlete to be named an Academic All-American three times. She is merely the fourth Purdue volleyball student-athlete to garner four Academic All-Big Ten selections and the third three-time academic all-district honoree. Evans is the only Boilermaker to amass 4,000 career assists and 1,000 career digs. During her senior year, Evans set the offense to the most-efficient hitting percentage in school history as Purdue hit .301, ranking ninth in the nation, en route to its third straight NCAA Tournament appearance. She was a first-team All-Big Ten and all-region selection.

Evans will be a four-time Big Ten Distinguished Scholar and as a senior was a recipient of the Guy “Red” Mackey Award for volleyball (presented to a player on each varsity team at Purdue that exemplify the overall success of the university’s intercollegiate athletics programs). Evans jumpstarted the Boiler-Maker-Wish Foundation and served as vice president of the Boiler Student-Athlete Advisory Committee for the 2017-18 school year. Evans will graduate in May with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering, boasting a 3.86 grade-point average.

The Big Ten, the nation’s oldest collegiate conference, commemorates the 104th anniversary of a very unique tradition – the Big Ten Medal of Honor. The conference’s most exclusive award was the first of its kind in intercollegiate athletics to recognize academic and athletic excellence. The Big Ten Medal of Honor was first awarded in 1915 to one student from the graduating class of each university who had “attained the greatest proficiency in athletics and scholastic work.” It was expanded in 1982 to include one female student from each institution. Big Ten schools currently feature more than 9,500 students competing in intercollegiate athletics, but only 28 earn this prestigious award on an annual basis. In more than 100 years of the Big Ten Medal of Honor, almost 1,400 students have earned this distinction.

 

Related Stories

Big 7th Inning Propels Boone Grove to Second State Championship

By Lewis Bagley, Special to IHSAA.org INDIANAPOLIS - Thanks to a five-run seventh inning, Boone Grove completed its mission. The Wolves of second-year coach Sean Riley broke from a 1-1 tie with that five-run outburst and claimed the Class 2A state championship with a...

Indianapolis Lutheran routs Kouts for first baseball state championship

By Rich Torres, Special to IHSAA.org INDIANAPOLIS – With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Indianapolis Lutheran junior Gage Meaney reached second base for a third time Friday night, and the Saints’ fans packed inside Victory Field immediately rose to their feet....

58th annual IHSAA Baseball State Finals Preview

Rosters, statistics, season results and game notables for this weekend's 58th Annual IHSAA Baseball State Finals at Victory Field. News Release https://www.ihsaa.org/sites/default/files/documents/2024-25%20Baseball%20Preview.pdf

58th Annual IHSAA Baseball State Finals

Friday, June 20 Class 1A State Championship 4:30 pm ET / 3:30 CT | Kouts (27-6) vs. Indianapolis Lutheran (20-10) Class 3A State Championship 8 pm ET / 7 CT | Andrean (30-3) vs. Jasper (28-6) Saturday, June 21 Class 2A State Championship 4:30 pm ET / 3:30 CT | Boone...

Cathedral withstands late rally to win first softball crown

By Lewis Bagley, Special to IHSAA.org WEST LAFAYETTE - Cathedral’s Anna Moore knew this was her time to come through for her team. Trailing Hanover Central, 2-1, in the fourth inning of the Class 3A championship game, Moore came to the plate with two on base. She...

Tecumseh wins sixth softball crown, first in Class 2A

By Lewis Bagley, Special to IHSAA.org WEST LAFAYETTE - Class 1A or 2A, it doesn’t seem to matter for the Tecumseh Braves. Coach Gordon Wood’s top-ranked squad claimed its second-straight and sixth state championship in program history with a 2-0 victory over No. 3...

Crown Point’s Liezert strikes out 16, Bulldogs win second crown

By Rich Torres, Special to IHSAA.org WEST LAFAYETTE – For some teams, a nearly 17-hour, overnight rain delay would derail anyone’s championship focus. For Class 4A Crown Point, Friday night’s postponement of the 40th annual IHSAA softball state finals into Saturday...

Rainford fans 17, North Newton secures first championship

By Will Willems, Special to IHSAA.org WEST LAFAYETTE - Sydney Rainford was on a mission. After three years of disappointing post-season results, Rainford knew this was her last chance to achieve the ultimate goal with her North Newton Spartan teammates of winning the...

Big Ten Recognizes Spring Academic All-Big Ten Honorees

Big Ten Recognizes Spring Academic All-Big Ten Honorees Students across 26 spring and at-large sports earn recognition Full 2025 Spring Academic All-Big Ten List ROSEMONT, Ill. - The Big Ten Conference recognized a total of 2,823 students on spring sports rosters who...