April 3, 2010
Results
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Despite battling the wind and rain all day at Purdue's Mike Poehlein Invitational, the Illinois men's track and field team stepped up its game at the Rankin Track and Field on Saturday, picking up the 4x100m title and four runner-up finishes. The foursome of sophomore Stanley Azie, freshmen Bai Kabba and Josh Zinzer, and senior Azeez Shogbuyi won the 4x100m crown with a time of 41.48 while Shogbuyi (100m), juniors Cody Wisslead (400m hurdles) and Oz Lifshitz (triple jump) and freshmen Jordan Hebert (5,000m) each placed second in their respective events.
"We ran fairly well for the conditions, but it wasn't an ideal day for track," interim head coach Mike Turk said. "Although the conditions weren't favorable for performances, I was very pleased with the competitiveness of our team as a whole. The guys that had been off for quite a long stretch performed with great effort and intensity."
In the 100m, Shogbuyi came in second with a time of 10.81, just in front of Azie, who also recorded a 10.81 to place third. Zinzer was 10th with a mark of 11.05 in that race. Wisslead (52.55) turned in a second-place finish in the 400m hurdles, an event he won at last week's Yellow Jacket Invitational.
"Our 4x100m was very solid and Cody Wisslead ran really well along with our guys in the 100m," Turk said.
Lifshitz was second in the triple jump with a bound of 47-9 ¾ (14.57m), and Hebert filled the number two spot in the 5,000m with a time of 14:48.08. Freshman Phil Pompei came in sixth behind Hebert in that race with a mark of 15:09.94.
The Illini performed well in the 200m, placing five runners in the top 10. Junior Dan Jones (21.83) paced the effort in fourth place followed by freshman Bai Kabba (21.98) in fifth. Azie (22.07), Shogbuyi (22.32) and junior Shane Daniel (22.32) came in one after another, finishing seventh, eighth and ninth, respectively.
Jones also led the way in the 400m, timing 49.18 to grab another fourth-place finish. Daniel (49.71) placed sixth in that event followed by senior Scott Phelps (49.83) in seventh and Kabba (49.84) in ninth. The 4x400m relay of Daniel, Kabba, freshman Malcolm Taylor and Jones finished in sixth with a time of 3:23.10.
In the 800m, senior Brian Beaird (1:54.70) was one of four Illini in the top 10, leading the way with a third-place showing. Sophomore Graham Farnsworth (1:55.18) finished close behind in fifth followed by sophomore Kyle Engnell (1:56.39) in ninth and Taylor (1:56.73) in 10th.
The distance crew in the 1,500m was paced by sophomore Colin Mickow, who placed sixth with a time of 3:56.46. Junior Dan Kremske was ninth at 4:00.37 while freshman Nathan Bohne was 17th at 4:04.92.
The two Illini pole vaulters finished sixth and seventh, respectively, with freshman Joshua Hodur posting a mark of 15-7 (4.75m) and sophomore Will Schaeffer notching a height of 15-1 (4.60m).
On Friday, junior Matt McHugh reset his own school record in the hammer throw for the second consecutive week and won the event with a mark of 202-10 (61.83m).
Next week, the Orange and Blue head to Eugene, Ore., for the Pepsi Invitational on April 10.
