Purdue Clinches Governor’s Cup for 3rd Straight Season

The annual all-sports competition between Indiana and Purdue is the Governor's Cup. It was introduced my senior year at Purdue of 2001-02 and combines the annual trophy games of the Monon Spike, Golden Boot, Old Oaken Bucket, and Barn Burner Trophy with all other sports to create an athletic department-wide competition. Each sport gets a point, so there are 20 available every year. If the teams play twice, like in volleyball or basketball, each game is worth a half point. For sports like cross country and swimming the school with the higher finish in the Big Ten meet gets the point.

This normally means things are very even. In fact, before this year Indiana held a 7-6-1 advantage (2009-10 was a tie. Coming into to this weekend Purdue was up 8.5-7.5 with four events to go, but the Boilers were able to clinch the cup for a third straight season thanks to finishing ahead of Indiana in both men's and women's golf at the Big Ten Championships. That gives Purdue a 10-5-7.5 lead with only the men's and women's outdoor track & field championships left, so the Hoosiers can't catch Purdue.

On the men's side of things Purdue finished 6^th at Big Ten championships while Indiana was 10^th. For the women Purdue did even better. The Boilers placed third while Indiana was 7^th. Purdue's August Kim was even the Big Ten's individual champion, proving that even with the revenue sports struggling, we are, at heart, a women's golf school.

Kim finished the weekend with a -9 to edge Ohio State's Katja Pogacar by one stroke. As a team Purdue was -5, seven strokes behind Northwestern and Ohio State who tied for the Big Ten title.

The caveat to this victory is that Purdue lost all of the Big three games. Indiana maintained possession of the Old Oaken Bucket, while the Hoosiers won by 4 in Bloomington in men's basketball and swept Purdue in three games in baseball.