May 29, 2010
Complete Results | Championship Central
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AUSTIN, Texas - The Illinois men's track and field team qualified in two more events on the final day of competition at the NCAA West Preliminary Round, with sophomore Andrew Riley in the 110m hurdles and the 4x100m relay both advancing to the NCAA Championships. Riley and the relay will join junior Cody Wisslead, who qualified in the 400m hurdles on Friday, on the trip to Eugene, Ore., giving the Illini five national qualifiers in three events.
"I'm really proud of our men," interim head coach Mike Turk said. "They performed very well throughout the whole meet. I'm sure those that qualified will do very well at nationals, and those who didn't have ended their season on a high note with a hunger for more next year."
Riley makes a repeat trip to the NCAA Championships after placing second in his heat to nab the automatic bid to Oregon. The Kingston, Jamaica native timed 13.67, which ranks as his third-fastest time of the season. His qualifying time of 13.58 from yesterday now marks the third-best time from the weekend, as Oklahoma'a Ronnie Ash (13.37) and Texas' Keiron Stewart (13.39) each recorded faster times today. Last season, Riley took fifth in the 110m hurdles to earn All-America honors as a freshman.
"Andrew got the job done today and that is all that matters," Turk said. "It wasn't as pretty as last night since he didn't get out as well but he went to work and is headed back to nationals."
The 4x100m relay of Riley, senior Azeez Shogbuyi, freshman Bai Kabba and sophomore Stanley Azie turned in a solid team effort with a time of 39.95 to place third in their heat and earn the automatic bid to nationals. The Illini squad clocked its second-quickest mark of the season, which also ranked as the ninth-fastest time among the 12 teams headed to Eugene.
"There is nothing more exciting than the 4x100m relay," Turk said. "That was really a fun race and just a great job by coach Bailey and the guys working together as a team. It was a little redemption for the Big Ten meet since they were able to put themselves among the nation's elite today. This has been two years in the making."
Azie missed qualifying individually in the 200m by just one spot, as his time of 21.01 was 13th-fastest of the day and second best in his career. The top 12 times in the event earned a trip to the NCAA Outdoor Championships.
"Stan just missed qualifying, but what an effort," Turk said. "That is the kind of competitiveness we want to see. I am glad he will get a chance to go on the relay. He deserves it."
In the 4x400m relay, the quartet of junior Shane Daniel, Kabba, freshman Malcolm Taylor and junior Dan Jones ran a season-best time of 3:07.67 but fell short of qualifying by two spots. The Illini squad finished fifth in its heat and 14th overall at Mike A. Myers Stadium. In the triple jump, junior Oz Lifshitz finished up his season with a bound of 49 feet, five inches, which tied him for 30th overall.
The Orange and Blue national qualifiers hit the track again in two weeks from June 9-12 in Eugene, Ore., at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. A full competition schedule for Riley, Wisslead and the 4x100m relay can be found below.
Illinois Saturday Results at NCAA West Preliminary Round
* advances to NCAA Championships in Oregon
110m Hurdles (Quarterfinal)
6. Andrew Riley 13.67*
4x100m Relay (Quarterfinal)
9. Illinois 39.95*
(Andrew Riley, Azeez Shogbuyi, Bai Kabba, Stanley Azie)
200m (Quarterfinal)
13. Stanley Azie 21.01
4x400m Relay (Quarterfinal)
14. Illinois 3:07.67
(Shane Daniel, Bai Kabba, Malcolm Taylor, Dan Jones)
Triple Jump (Prelims)
T-30. Oz Lifshitz 49-5 (15.06m)
Upcoming Schedule for Illini Advancing to NCAA Championships
Meet held in Eugene, Ore. at Hayward Field from June 9-12
(All times Central)
Wednesday, June 9
6 p.m. 4x100m Relay Semifinal (Andrew Riley, Azeez Shogbuyi, Bai Kabba, Stanley Azie)
8:45 p.m. 400m Hurdles Semifinal (Cody Wisslead)
Thursday, June 10
7:35 p.m. 110m Hurdles Semifinal (Andrew Riley)
Friday, June 11
7:05 p.m. 400m Hurdles Final
Saturday, June 12
12:11 p.m. 4x100m Relay Final
1:16 p.m. 110m Hurdles Final
