CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois men's track and field athlete Jonathan Wells was named the 2018 Big Ten Outdoor Field Athlete of the Championships, as announced by the conference office on Tuesday (5/15) afternoon. The honor comes following an 18-point performance in two field events, highlighted by breaking the Illinois school record to win the Big Ten high jump title.

The Illini redshirt junior becomes the first field event athlete in Illinois men's program history to win Field Athlete of the Championships in either indoor or outdoor season, and is the 12^th Illini overall to win a Big Ten Athlete of the Championships award. Former Illini D.J. Zahn was the last to earn the honor, winning Track Athlete of the Championships at both the 2015 indoor and outdoor meets.

Winning his second Big Ten high jump title, the first coming at the 2017 indoor meet, Wells cleared a new school record height of 7'5" (2.26m) to win the first Illinois outdoor high jump title since Ernie Haisley in 1958. Clearing six bars on the afternoon, the first five without a miss, Wells' broke the 39-year old school record of 7'3.5" (2.22m), held by Gail Olson, on his fifth clearance of the day. Wells then cleared seven feet, five inches on his third attempt at the height to end his competition.

In Big Ten history, Wells' 7'5" high jump ranks second only to Indiana's Derek Droubin's 7'7" (2.31m) clearance in 2012 in Outdoor Championships history.

Prior to the high jump title on Sunday, Wells scored eight points in the long jump, earning a silver medal in the horizontal jumps with a leap of 25'3.5" (7.71m). The first medal of his career in the horizontal jump, Wells soared past 25 feet on three of his six attempts and set his best mark on his fifth attempt.

Also a scorer for the Illini on the track, Wells added two points in the 110m hurdles as he timed 14.05 to place seventh.

Firmly in the field of 48 for NCAA West Prelims in each of his three events, Wells will head to Sacramento, California next week ranked third in the West in the high jump, 10^th in the long jump and 19^th in the 110m hurdles.

In addition to Wells' honor, Illinois seniors Alex Gold and Kristina Kladar were named the program's Big Ten Sportsmanship Honorees for the 2018 outdoor season.
 

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Men's Big Ten Awards
Coach of the Year — Karen Dennis, OSU
Track Athlete of the Championships — Isaiah Harris, PSU
Field Athlete of the Championships — Jonathan Wells, ILL

Sportsmanship Honorees:
Alex Gold - Illinois 
William Session - Indiana
William Dougherty - Iowa
Sam Shoultz - Maryland
Grant Cartwright - Michigan 
Antonio Clark - Michigan State
Sam Carlson - Minnesota
Cody Walton - Nebraska
Drelan Bramwell - Ohio State
Michael Biddle - Penn State
Waseem Williams - Purdue
Matt Krezmer - Rutgers
Ben Eidenschink - Wisconsin 

Women's Big Ten Awards
Coach of the Year — Matt Bingle, MINN
Track Athlete of the Championships — Devynne Charlton, PUR
Field Athlete of the Championships — Jahisha Thomas, IOWA

Sportsmanship Honorees:
Kristina Kladar - Illinois
Kendell Wiles - Indiana
Jahisha Thomas - Iowa
Caludia Ababio - Maryland
Gina Sereno - Michigan 
Jade Madison - Michigan State
Lindsey Smits - Minnesota
Chase Wolinski - Nebraska
Alexus Pyles - Ohio State
Madeline Holmberg - Penn State
Brionna Thomas - Purdue 
Bryanna Grant - Rutgers
Casie Pawlik - Wisconsin