University of Illinois
Big Ten Indoor Championships
Fighting Illini Take Fourth At Big Ten Indoor Championships
February 29, 2004 | Men's Track & Field
Feb. 29, 2004
Andre English and Zach Glavash turned in stellar performances and the mile relay team anchored an outstanding second day for Illinois' men's track and field team Sunday at the Big Ten Championships in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Illini climbed five places on day two to claim their highest finish since a second place showing at the 2000 Big Ten meet.
Adrian Walker, Abe Jones, Tramell Smith and Nathan Vadeboncoeur (4x400m relay) joined English (60m hurdles) and Glavash (600m) as second team All-Big Ten honorees on a day the Illini posted three NCAA provisionally qualifying marks.
"We executed very well," head coach Wayne Angel said. "We scored in the areas we needed to score in, we met the objectives we set coming in and we came together as a team. We more than accomplished what we set out to accomplish. I was tickled with the energy and enthusiasm the guys displayed today."
In the 4x400m relay, the Illini ran 3:11.72 to finish second and provisionally qualify for the NCAA Championships, while in the 5000m run, Jason Bill clocked 14:24.45 to post the sixth fastest time in school history and claim fifth place in the event.
English ran a personal best, provisionally qualifying 7.92s in the 60m hurdles to capture second place, while running fifth in the 60m dash.
"Andre English had one of the best performances of his life, 6.82 in the 60 was outstanding and he was exceptional in the hurdles," Angel continued. "He had a big job, running the 60, the hurdles and the 200 and he ran well in all of them. Our team finish had a lot to do with how well Andre started."
The Illini's strongest event proved to be the 600m as Zach Glavash finished in second place, Trammel Smith took third and Aaron King placed fifth. Glavash's time of 1:17.63 was just five one-hundredths of a second off the time of the event winner.
"Zach Glavash ran with heart, guts and determination and almost stole the show," Angel said.
Senior Peter Knaus broke his own school record in the weight throw, tossing 60'04.00" to finish eighth in his first outing at the Championships and sophomore Steve Weatherford earned a fifth place finish and provisionally qualified for the heptathlon with 5,181 points and took over second place on the school's all-time list.
"We hit our goal as a team, from Jason Bill to Peter Knaus to Eric Disilvestro, the list goes on and on, they all did their part to help us finish where we did and that's what a team is all about." "In a short period of time, we've come a long way," Angel said. "Our goal was to finish in fourth or fifth place and we finished fourth, up four spots from last year. We showed a lot of people that Illinois is on its' way up."
Complete results can be found at www.bigten.org.
The Illini will be back in action this weekend at Notre Dame.
