Feb. 26, 2011

Results |  Photo Gallery  | Championship Central

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - In front of the home crowd at the UI Armory, freshman Matthew Bane became Illinois' first Big Ten pole vault champion since 2000 after winning the event with a personal-best height of 17-3 ¾ (5.28m) to highlight day one of the Big Ten Championships. Three other Illini events scored points on Saturday, giving Illinois a team total of 20 points through five events, which places the Orange and Blue in fifth place.

"It was an awesome day for Matt," interim head coach Mike Turk said. "He came up with a huge jump when it mattered and cleared it on his first attempt. I had a good feeling about our vault crew and all those guys jumped great."

With five competitors remaining and the bar set at 5.28m, Bane sailed over the mark on his first attempt, which proved to be the winning jump. Only two other vaulters, Minnesota's Ben Peterson and Indiana's Stefanos Koufidis, cleared the height but it came on their second and third attempts, respectively. After no one was able to clear the next height of 5.38m, Bane was crowned champion, making him the first Illini to do so since Justin Norberg 11 years ago. Bane's winning mark ranks seventh in school history and gave Illinois its 17th-ever Big Ten champion in the event.

"It feels amazing," Bane said. "I came out here just hoping to score points and this was a bonus. We have put in so much work to get here, and this is the meet we have been preparing for all season. To come out and perform well makes everything worth it."

Another Illini freshman, Cody Klein, scored three points in the pole vault after matching his personal best with a mark of 16-8 (5.08m). Sophomore Joshua Hodur also turned in a solid day in the event, posting a personal-best mark of 16-4 (4.98m) and placing 12th.

Illinois' distance medley relay of Graham Farnsworth, Dan Jones, Ryan Lynn and Kyle Engnell added six points after combining for a third-place finish with a time of 9:54.76. Despite losing his shoe with just over half a lap to go, Engnell never gave up and finished off strong to close out the final race of the day.

"I was really pleased with the DMR," Turk said. "We ran that event with some fresh legs and they did great. Kyle lost his shoe after getting clipped on final lap, but he still kicked it in strong and showed a lot of guts."

Three Illini sprinters qualified for the final in the 60m dash, led by junior Andrew Riley, who matched his own school record in the event with a time of 6.72. Riley finished fourth in prelims to advance while senior Azeez Shobuyi and junior Stanley Azie placed sixth and seventh, respectively, with season-best times of 6.81 to qualify for Sunday's race.

"We needed that from those three sprinters," Turk said. "Those guys need to step up big tomorrow too. It's going to a fight in that race and should be a very exciting finish." Riley also turned in the second-fastest 60m hurdles time (7.83) to win his heat and move onto the final, and Azie also qualified for the 200m final after placing seventh during prelims with a time of 21.77. In total, Illinois advanced five athletes to Sunday's final races.

The Illini just missed scoring in the 3,000m, as junior Colin Mickow took ninth with a personal-best mark of 8:14.18 and sophomore Nathan Bohne crossed the line in 10th at 8:15.51. In the other final of the day, freshmen Shujaa Benson placed 12th in the long jump with a bound of 23-6 (7.16m).

"We had our ups and downs, but held it together pretty well," Turk said. "We ended on a high note, but missed out on a getting a couple more qualifiers. Our major players made it through, so we are in pretty good shape. This is the highest spot I can remember us being after day one since I've been here, so that is a big positive."

A full list of Illinois results from competition on Saturday can be found below. Sunday's action of the Big Ten Indoor Championships will begin at 10 a.m. and conclude at 3:25 p.m. with the 4x400m relay, the final event of the day. Live results can be found HERE.

Illinois Saturday Results at Big Ten Indoor Championships
Q/q = qualified for Sunday event final

Pole Vault (FINAL)
1. Matthew Bane 17-3 ¾ (5.28m); 10 team points *Big Ten Champion
6. Cody Klein 16-8 (5.08m); 3 team points
12. Joshua Hodur 16-4 (4.98m)
19. Alex Baldwin 15-8 ¼ (4.78m)

Shot Put (FINAL)
8. Davis Fraker 57-0 ¾ (17.39m); 1 team point

Distance Medley Relay (FINAL)
3. Illinois 9:54.76; 6 team points
(Graham Farnsworth, Dan Jones, Ryan Lynn, Kyle Engnell)

Long Jump (FINAL)
12. Shujaa Benson 23-6 (7.16m)
16. Justin Boone 23-0 ¾ (7.03m)

3,000m (FINAL)
9. Colin Mickow 8:14.18
10. Nathan Bohne 8:15.51
15. Dan Kremske 8:23.19

60m (Preliminaries)
4. Andrew Riley 6.72 q
6. Azeez Shogbuyi 6.81 q
7. Stanley Azie 6.81 q

200m (Preliminaries)
7. Stanley Azie 21.77 q
11. Azeez Shogbuyi 21.96
18. Shane Daniel 22.40
23. Josh Zinzer 22.60

400m (Preliminaries)
13. Shane Daniel 49.20
18. Dan Jones 49.52
DNF Cody Wisslead

600m (Preliminaries)
11. Nic Haab 1:21.18
13. Malcolm Taylor 1:21.73
16. Zebo Zebe 1:22.22

800m (Preliminaries)
16. Ryan Lynn 1:56.44

Mile (Preliminaries)
21. Mike Murray 4:28.50

60m Hurdles (Preliminaries)
2. Andrew Riley 7.83 Q
20. Shawn Ledbetter 8.49
22. Shujaa Benson 10.32

Heptathlon (Through four events)
14. Steve Monte 2,722 points

Big Ten Men's Indoor Championships Team Standings (Through five events)
1. Ohio State 34
2. Minnesota 30
3. Indiana 28.5
4. Wisconsin 25
5. ILLINOIS 20
6. Penn State 17
7. Michigan State 14
8. Iowa 10
9. Michigan 9.5
10. Purdue 7