University of Illinois
Big Ten Indoor Championships
Illini Conclude First Day of Big Ten Indoor Championships
February 28, 2009 | Men's Track & Field
Feb. 28, 2009
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. - The Illinois men's track and field team concluded the first day of competition at the Big Ten Indoor Championships on Saturday, with three athletes in solid positioning to contend for individual titles in Sunday's finals at Penn State's Ashenfelter Multi-Sport Facility.
Freshman Andrew Riley tied for first in the 60m hurdles trials, while junior Gary Miller (600m) and senior Gakologelwang Masheto (400m) ran the second-fastest times in their respective event trials to lead the way for the Orange and Blue.
The top three teams after day one of the Big Ten Indoor Championships are Minnesota (47), Wisconsin (36) and Indiana (27).
"We got all of our heavy hitters through to tomorrow's finals which we feel great about," head coach Wayne Angel said. "If they do what they are capable of we should be in solid positioning at the end of the meet. We were disappointed in some areas today, but are optimistic about tomorrow."
Riley timed 7.87 in the 60m hurdles preliminaries, the second-best performance of his career in the event. Purdue's Josh Hembrough, the reigning Big Ten champion in the 60m hurdles, also ran 7.87, setting up a showdown between the two athletes in tomorrow's final.
Masheto easily won his preliminary heat in the 400m, timing 47.51 to rank second in trials. He will be looking defend his conference crown tomorrow as the 2008 Big Ten champion in the event, with his top competition likely coming from Michigan State's Jeremy Orr (46.83, top time in trials). Illinois sophomore Dan Jones also qualified for tomorrow's 400m final with a personal-best time of 48.37 to take eighth in trials.
Miller also had a personal-best performance with a time of 1:18.23 in the 600m trials, the second-fastest of the day. Penn State's Lionel Williams had the fastest preliminary time of 1:17.74.
Masheto will also represent the Illini in the 200m final, after timing a personal-best 21.50 for the fourth-best trials time. It was his first time running the 200m this season. Jones ran a strong 200m as well, finishing 11th in trials in a time of 21.71.
The Illini distance medley relay scored the team's only points in events that were final on Saturday. The squad of junior Brian Beaird, sophomore Cody Wisslead, Miller and freshman Graham Farnsworth timed 9:50.80 to take seventh, as Michigan won the DMR with a time of 9:45.27.
Illinois just missed the scoring column in the shot put and pole vault. Junior Casey Fonnesbeck placed ninth in the shot with a throw of 56-0 1/2, while freshman Matt Eader took 11th (54-2). Senior Andrew Zollner, who has been battling injuries all season, took ninth in the pole vault with a season-best height of 16-4 3/4.
Junior Azeez Shogbuyi also had a close call, falling just short of qualifying for the 60m final. He ran a personal-best time of 6.87 in trials, the ninth-best performance of the day with the top eight going to finals.
In other Illini performances, junior Jacob Nachel took 12th in the 3,000m final (8:22.01), while juniors Scott Phelps (600m, 1:19.51) and Beaird (1:51.67) both had season-best performances to take 11th in preliminaries.
The Big Ten Indoor Championships conclude tomorrow with the heptathlon resuming at 9:20 a.m. CT. Running finals begin at noon, with the final event of the championships (4x400m relay) scheduled to start at 2:25 p.m. Live stats are available throughout the meet at www.gopsusports.com.
Illinois Saturday Results at Big Ten Indoor Championships
Q = qualified for Sunday event final
3,000m (FINAL)
12. Jacob Nachel 8:22.01
Distance Medley Relay (FINAL)
7. Illinois 9:50.80; 2 team points
(Beaird, Wisslead, Miller, Farnsworth)
Long Jump (FINAL)
17. Earnest Green 20-10 3/4 (6.37m)
20. Roger Jones 19-9 1/2 (6.03m)
--- Azeez Shogbuyi FOUL
Shot Put (FINAL)
9. Casey Fonnesbeck 56-0 1/2 (17.08m)
11. Matt Eader 54-2 (16.51m)
Pole Vault (FINAL)
9. Andrew Zollner 16-4 3/4 (5.00m)
60m (Preliminaries)
9. Azeez Shogbuyi 6.87
13. Stanley Azie 6.95
200m (Preliminaries)
4. Gakologelwang Masheto 21.50 q
11. Dan Jones 21.71
17. Roger Jones 22.12
400m (Preliminaries)
2. Gakologelwang Masheto 47.51 Q
8. Dan Jones 48.37 q
17. Hendrik Maartens 48.78
600m (Preliminaries)
2. Gary Miller 1:18.23 Q
11. Scott Phelps 1:19.51
800m (Preliminaries)
11. Brian Beaird 1:51.67
60m Hurdles (Preliminaries)
T-1. Andrew Riley 7.87 Q
16. Cody Wisslead 8.60
17. Shawn Ledbetter 8.68
Heptathlon (Through 4 of 7 events)
19. Shawn Ledbetter 2,424 points
Big Ten Men's Indoor Championships Team Standings (Through five events)
1. Minnesota 47
2. Wisconsin 36
3. Indiana 27
4. Michigan 19
5. Purdue 18
6. Iowa 15.5
6. Ohio State 15.5
8. Penn State 8
9. Michigan State 7
10. Illinois 2
