March 20, 2004

Illinois' men's track and field team opened the outdoor season with a victory this weekend at the Texas Southern Relays held at Rice University in Houston, Texas. Leading the way for the Illini were sophomores Andre English and Tramell Smith as English picked up two victories while Smith added one.

English set a new career-best while winning the 100m dash, clocking 10.71s. The Dayton, Ohio native also posted a new career-high in the 110m hurdles, running a time of 14.19s. That time stands as the eighth fastest time in Illinois history and qualified English for the NCAA regional meet at the end of the season.

A day after helping the 4x800m relay team to a victory, Smith took the 800m crown in a personal best time of 1:51.18. Junior Tim Hobbs came in third, just six tenths short of setting a new career-high, finishing in 1:52.94.

Freshman Jeremy Kruidenier had a strong showing in the 1,500m race, placing third with a time of 4:03.68.

Nathan Vadeboncoeur cruised to the 400m victory, clocking a time of 47.56s.

In the field, the Fighting Illini had a number of top-three finishes, as Kurt Glesne took second in the shot put, Peter Knaus was third in the discus, Jamaal Folks was third in the triple jump with Eric Disilvestro taking third in the pole vault.

Complete meet results can be found at www.deltatiming.com.

The Illini are back in action next weekend at the LSU Relays in Baton Rouge, La.