March 7, 2008
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Illinois men's track and field team has one remaining meet to qualify for the NCAA Indoor Championships, competing Saturday, March 8 at the Alex Wilson Invitational hosted by Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind. Meet action starts tonight, but the Illini will not compete until Saturday beginning with the triple jump at 9:30 a.m.
Junior Dominique Worsley will try to get his time down in the 60m, where he recently ran an NCAA provisional time for the first time in his career and ranks 29th in the country. Worsey's performance of 6.72 seconds broke the Illinois school record and placed him fourth at last weekend's Big Ten Championships.
Senior Nick Brown is looking for a return trip to NCAAs in the triple jump, where he earned All-America status in 2006. Brown took fourth in the triple jump at the Big Ten Championships in only his second time competing in the event this season. He earned a NCAA provisional qualifying distance of 50 feet, 8 3/4 inches at the New Balance Invitational on Feb. 8.
Other Illini competing on Saturday are sophomore Mike Murray in the mile and sophomores Brian Beaird and Scott Phelps in the 800m.
All-American Gakologelwang Masheto, who recently won his fourth career Big Ten title, will not compete the rest of the indoor season because of a stress fracture in his foot. The junior ran the 14th-fastest 400m time in the country this indoor season despite not being fully healthy. Masheto is expected to be back running for the Illini in the outdoor season.
The NCAA Indoor Championships are March 14-15 in Fayetteville, Ark.
