This is the 25th anniversary for the 1975 Fighting Illini men's track and field squad that captured the Big Ten Outdoor Championship under Head Coach Gary Wieneke. It was a golden era for track and field at Illinois. The Illini finished second in the Big Ten Indoor Championship and headed to Iowa City looking to knock off Indiana. It had been a great outdoor season, Mike Durkin capturing the mile and Charlton Ehizuelen winning the long jump and triple jump at the Drake Relays. Ehizuelen also set the meet record in triple jump at the Kansas Relays and Mike Baietto set school marks in the shot put and discus at Memorial Stadium in early April.
In Iowa City in May 1975, the Illini track and field squad won its first Big Ten track title in 15 years and recorded the school's first championship in any sport besides fencing since 1963. The Illini set a school record with 128 points with five individual titles and two relay titles. Senior captain Mike Durkin paved the way with an ironman double in the 3000-yard steeplechase and 880-yard run an hour and a half later. Baietto set a track record in the shot put in the winning the title and Craig Virgin completed his comeback from a spring plagued by pericarditis, an inflammation of the sac lining around the heart, to win the three-mile run. The Illini trailed late into Sunday afternoon with the balance of the meet hanging on the triple jump. Eventual NCAA champion Ehizuelen won the event and the title for the Illini. The Illini 440-yard relay squad of Ray Estes, Ben App, Jim Hanlon and Ehizuelen and the mile relay quartet of Estes, Charlie White, Tim Smith and App also posted key victories for rookie coach Wieneke's first Big Ten championship.
1975 Team Members:
Paul Adams
Benjamin App
Mark Avery
David Axelrod
Michael Baietto
Ken Bode
Michael Bridges
Richard Brooks
Steven Childs
James Coxworth
Mike Dudley
Michael Durkin
Charlton Ehizuelan
Ray Estes
Jerry Finis
Damon Finney
William Fritz
James Hanlon
Joseph Henderson
Howard Jancy
Bruce Jones
Thomas Kaczkowski
John Kalmar
Thomas Kearney
Thomas Keller
Brian Kueker
Albert Melton, Jr.
Richard Morris
Terrence Moylan
Steve Mueller
Gary Mumaw
Les Myers
James Nasti
Rory Packer
Charles Peters
William Phelps
Jeff Raugh
Mark Rogers
Daniel Romein
Robert Ruff
Stephan Sawtelle
David Skadden
Michael Skelton
John Sloan
Timothy Smith
Mark Stefanik
Ron Sterrenberg
Al Stillwell
Grant Thomas
Ron Umbarger
Craig Virgin
David Wagner
David Walters
Charles White
John Woods
Wesley Wright
Coaches:
Gary Wieneke
Tom Pagani
Managers:
Debby Heckler
Elaine Finney Sagers
Jean Schmidke
