May 17, 2000

CHAMPIAGN, Ill. - The University of Illinois men's track & field team travels to Iowa City, Iowa to compete in the Big Ten Outdoor Championships on Friday-Sunday, May 19-21. The meet, hosted by the University of Iowa, will be held at the F.X. Cretzmeyer Track.

This is the 100th anniversary of the Big Ten Men's Outdoor Championships. Here is a breakdown of the team championships won by each school:

Illinois ranks second behind Michigan with its 28 outdoor conference titles. During Head Coach Gary Wieneke's tenure (now in his 26th year), the Illini have won six Big Ten outdoor championships (11 total), with the last one coming during the 1994 outdoor season. Under Wieneke, Illinois has finished in the upper-half of the conference in 24 of 25 outdoor meets. The only exception was an eighth place finish in 1998.

At this year's Big Ten Indoor Championships, Illinois finished second thanks to a dramatic finish. The Illini won the final event of the meet, the 4x400 meter relay, to finish with 82.5 points and leap-frog both Minnesota and Purdue for second place, just 1/2 point better than the Gophers. Wisconsin won the team title after racking up 150 points.

Illinois won three championships at the indoor meet, Justin Norberg winning the pole vault, Jason Van Swol defending his title in the 800 meter run, and the 4x400 meter relay team of Babatunde Ridley, Tyrone Jones, Kendall McCroy, and Sherman Armstrong also claiming victory.

Leading the way for the Illini this weekend is junior sprinter/hurdler Sherman Armstrong. Armstrong is the defending champion in both the 110m hurdles and 400m hurdles and was named the Big Ten Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year last season.

This year Armstrong has taken his performance in the hurdles to a new level. He has already automatically qualified for the NCAA's in the 400m hurdles, after running a school record time of 49.20 at the Drake Relays. That is the second-fastest collegiate time in the nation this season. Armstrong beat several notable hurdlers at Drake, including Derrick Adkins, the 1996 Olympic Gold Medalist, and Baylor's Bayano Kamani, the defending NCAA champion in the intermediate hurdles. At Indiana last weekend, he ran a new personal best of 13.85 in the 110's, an NCAA provisional qualifying time which is tied for the fastest in the Big Ten this year with Wisconsin's T.J. Nelson.

Looking at the Big Ten performance lists heading into the championships, several Illini are in a solid position to be placewinners in this meet and help the Illini seek the team title. Here is a breakdown of who will represent the Illini in each event:

100m dash: Senior Babatunde Ridley ran a season's best 10.40 at the Texas Relays on April 7, which ranks fifth on the Big Ten performance list. Sophomore Quincy Washington hurt his quadricep muscle a few weeks ago, making him questionable for this weekend in the sprints and sprint relays.

200m dash: Ridley owns the fastest time on the team, after running a new PR of 20.98 last weekend at Indiana. That is the second-fastest 200 in the Big Ten this year, behind Wisconsin's Michael Bennett (20.66). Sophomore Kendall McCroy who is back with the team after going through spring football, will join Ridley in the 200.

400m dash: Senior Tyrone Jones has been a perennial top four placer in the quarter mile during his career, but an injured hamstring might put him in jeopardy of keeping that streak alive this weekend. His season's best is 47.69, which he ran to open the outdoor season back on March 25. Sophomore Josh Harford, who stepped in for Jones on the 4x400m relay team during his time out, will also enter.

800m run: Sophomore Jason Van Swol won the indoor 800m run as a freshman and sophomore and would be a perfect three for three if it wasn't for former teammate Bobby True. True won the outdoor 800 last year, while Van Swol placed second. Van Swol currently has the third-fastest time in the Big Ten of 1:50.61. The two runners ahead of him (Ohio State's Robert Myers and Indiana's Brett Tipton) have both gone under 1:50. Senior Greg Schultz, a two-time Big Ten placewinner, and freshman Aaron Wahls round out the Illini entrants.

1,500m run: Junior Dan Horyn (3:48.28) and sophomore Nick Gow (3:49.94) both rank in the top seven on the Big Ten performance list.

5,000m and 10,000m runs: Senior distance specialist and cross country stand-out Scott McClennan will be the Illini's lone entry in these events. McClennan, who owns an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 29:52.64 in the 10K, scored last year in the 10,000m and was a double-scorer at the Big Ten indoor meet in February in the 3,000m and 5,000m runs.

110m hurdles: Junior Sherman Armstrong looks to defend his Big Ten title in the high hurdles, and is coming off last weekend's meet at Indiana where he ran a new PR of 13.85. Brandon Lloyd, who placed third in the 60m hurdles indoors, and sophomore Ben Gault, who was sixth in the 110's last year, will join Armstrong.

400m hurdles: Armstrong owns the second-fastest time in the nation in the intermediate hurdles (49.20), which is nearly two seconds faster than the next closest Big Ten competitior, Iowa's Russ Peterson. He is aiming to repeat his hurdles double of the 110's and 400's.

3,000m steeplechase: Senior Jon Russell scored for the Illini in the steeplechase last season. This year the Big Ten has produced a number of fast times, and Russell goes into the meet with his season's best time of 9:15.34 ranking 10th on the performance list.

4x100m relay: The Illini will field a relay of McCroy, Armstrong, Charles Burton, and anchored by Ridley. Illinois' season's best of 40.30 currently ranks third, but that came with Quincy Washington in the lineup in place of Burton.

4x400m relay: Illinois owns the mile relay indoors, winning the past three seasons and six of the last seven. But outdoors has been a different story, as the Illini haven't won since 1995. The probable team of Ridley, McCroy, Van Swol, and anchored by Armstrong will be in the hunt in what is traditionally one of the most exciting and competitive races of the weekend.

High Jump: Brandon Lloyd took third in the high jump indoors, but has only high jumped twice during the outdoor season, since the conclusion of spring football. He will be joined by senior T.J. Jumper, who was seventh indoors.

Pole Vault: Senior Justin Norberg is aiming for his second Big Ten pole vault title, but a minor hamstring injury could factor into his performance. He cleared a season's best 17 feet, 4-1/2 inches back on April 1 at Houston, which is tied for second on the performance list. Ahead of Norberg on the list is Michigan's Charles DeWildt, who has cleared 17-5. It was Norberg and DeWildt who were the final two vaulters left at the Big Ten indoor meet in which Norberg went on to win.

Long Jump: Babatunde Ridley, a two-time All-American in the long jump, will add this event to his packed weekend schedule that includes the 100m, 200m, 4x100m relay, and 4x400m relay. His season's best of 24 feet, 11-1/4 inches ranks fourth in the Big Ten. Lloyd and Burton will also long jump.

Triple Jump: Charles Burton is the lone Illinois competitor in this event. Burton finished third in the triple jump indoors and last week at Indiana set a new outdoor PR with a jump of 50 feet, 11-1/2 inches which stands fifth on the conference performance list.

Shot Put: Freshman Bernard Grady will make the shot put his lone event this weekend. Grady placed sixth in the shot indoors, then took some time off after the indoor season (along with McCroy) to go through spring football.

Hammer: Senior Michael Willard's marks have been improving each week. He enters with a best throw of 173 feet, 7 inches and will likely need to PR in order to score this weekend.

Javelin: Junior Matt Lasley switched events this year from the pole vault to the javelin and it has paid off. His personal best of 181 feet, 6 inches that he set on April 22 currently ranks ninth in the Big Ten.