April 1, 2000

HOUSTON -- The University of Illinois men's track & field team made a great showing at today's Tom Tellez Track Dedication Meet on the campus of the University of Houston at the Carl Lewis International Sports Complex. The Illini finished in second place at the six-team meet with a score of 112 points. The host Houston Cougars won the meet with a score of 124 points, twelve better than the Illini. The Orange and Blue edged out Baylor by one point, as the Bears finished with 111.

Leading the way were five first place finishes by Illinois athletes. Junior Sherman Armstrong claimed first place for the second straight week in the 400 meter hurdles, winning in an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 50.73. That is a new season's best time for the defending Big Ten 400m hurdle champion, who opened the outdoor season last week with a time of 50.76 in the intermediate hurdles at Southern Illinois.

Senior Justin Norberg, the Big Ten indoor pole vault champion, also provisionally qualified for the NCAA outdoors by winning the pole vault with a new personal best as an Illini of 17 ft. 4 1/2 in. Last year Norberg cleared 17 ft. 6 in., but that mark came while competing unattached.

Senior Scott McClennan blew away the competition in the 3,000 meter run, finishing first with a new outdoor personal best time of 8:23.36. That time was more than eight seconds faster than the second place finisher.

Senior Babatunde Ridley, a two-time All-American in the long jump, finished first in the long jump with a leap of 23 ft. 10 1/4 in. Also in the jumps, sophomore Charles Burton won the triple jump competition with a new outdoor personal best of 50 ft. 3 1/2 in.

"This was a big step up and advancement for our team compared to last week when we opened the outdoor season," said Head Coach Gary Wieneke. "We got solid contributions from a number of athletes, starting with Armstrong in the hurdles and onto McClennan, who came up big for us by winning the 3000 at the end of the meet. But it goes beyond just the guys who won. Elmer Hickman in the 100 (who finished second in a time of 10.89) ran an extremely quality race and is showing that he's a Big Ten level sprinter. And Tunde Ridley came up big not just in the long jump, but also the 200 and on the 4x100 relay."

Next week the Illini will be in action at the Haywood Relays in Eugene, Oregon.

TEAM SCORES

ILLINOIS TOP 3 FINISHERS