Jan. 24, 2004
Illinois' men's track and field team performed well at the Nike Elite Invitational Saturday in Madison, Wisc. The meet was not team scored. The Illini had eight top-three finishes, including a first place photo finish in
the mile relay.
"Overall, we accomplished what we set out to accomplish today," head coach Wayne Angel said. "Our level of intensity wasn't as high as it could have been for the team as a whole, but there were certain individuals who were hitting on all cylinders and that made me feel very good. Some guys weren't at their best, but they learned from their races."
In the mile relay, the Illini finished in 3:15.15, which was tied with Northern Iowa,s team, but after reviewing a photo finish, it was determined that the Orange and Blue crossed the finish line slightly ahead of the Panthers.
"Our mile relay really ran their hearts out," Angel said. "Nathan Vadeboncouer ran a 48.1 split as the anchor, which is outstanding. Their performance was icing on the cake."
A couple of Illini set personal bests at the meet. Sophomore sprinters Anthony Young and Andre English. English tied his personal best in the 60m hurdles, finishing second in a time of 8.07 seconds, while Young clocked an 8.21.
Vadeboncouer placed third in the 200m, running a time of 22.43 seconds. In the 400m, sophomore Adrian Walker ran 49.13 to finish third, while in the 600m, the Illini ran second and third, with freshman Zach Glavash coming in second at 1:19.04 and Clint Cherco following right behind in 1:20.15.
In the pole vault, sophomore Eric Disilvestro tied for second, jumping 16'00.75" finishing behind Illini senior Adam Pierson, who was competing unattached. Pierson cleared 16'04.75" for the victory.
A week after setting the school record in the weight throw, senior Peter Knaus finished second in the event, throwing 57.06.50".
The Illini return to action Saturday, Jan. 31, when they return home to host the Illinois Invitational at the UI Armory. Field events are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. CST with running events starting at 12:15 p.m.
Complete results from today's meet can be found at www.uwbadgers.com.
