April 23, 2008
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Illinois' men's track and field team will look to continue its storied tradition of success and crown another champion in competing at the 99th edition of the Drake Relays this week in Des Moines, Iowa from April 23-26. The Illini are the most prestigious program in the history of the meet, having the most overall titles (133), most individual titles (62) and most relay titles (72) out of all participating schools.
One of the most prestigious meets in the country, this year's Drake Relays will feature nearly 8,000 athletes representing 686 teams. The Illini will enter six relays and have 10 athletes competing as individuals.
"Illinois track and field is a perennial power at the Drake Relays," head coach Wayne Angel said. "Our goal every year is to keep adding titles and continue the Illini tradition. This meet is especially important, as we view it as the start of the championship portion of the outdoor season."
All-American Gakologelwang Masheto will make his outdoor debut on the track, running the 4x200m, 4x400m and sprint medley relays. Masheto made highlights last year at Drake, winning the special invitational 400m title with a time of 46.24 seconds. The junior has not competed this outdoor season due to a stress fracture in his foot, and will be running his first meet since the Big Ten Indoor Championships on March 1-2.
Multi-events at the Drake Relays got underway today, with junior Andrew Zollner competing in the decathlon for the first time this season. Zollner will continue the decathlon on Thursday, while the distance events will also be contested beginning at 4 p.m. Trent Hoerr and Jacob Nachel are scheduled to compete in the 5,000m, while Michael Murray and Jared Richardson will run the 1,500m and Justin Aronson the 10,000m.
The Illini 4x400m relay should be one to watch on Friday and Saturday, especially with the addition of Masheto. The foursome of Yawusa Kinda, Dan Jones, Gary Miller and Brandon Gray post a season-best time of 3:07.98 that ranks first in the Big Ten and sixth in the NCAA Mideast Region. With Masheto in the lineup, Illinois is one of the favorites in the 32-team field.
The 4x400m prelims will be held on Friday, along with the finals of the 4x1600m (Richardson, Murray, Nachel, Hoerr), 4x200m (Dominique Worsley, Masheto, Kinda, Gray) and 4x800m (Miller, Scott Phelps, Eugene Ellis, Brian Beaird). The 4x400m final is on Saturday along with the sprint medley relay (Worsley, Masheto, Gray, Miller) and distance medley relay (Richardson, Jones, Beaird, Murray).
Along with competing in the decathlon, Zollner is also entered in the pole vault on Friday. The junior is coming off of a personal-best performance last week at the Kansas Relays, where he vaulted over 17 feet for the first time in his career. Senior Nick Brown will compete in both the long and triple jumps, while Greg Shroka will do the high jump.
The Illini will host the Illinois Twilight meet next Wednesday, April 30 at the Illinois Soccer and Track Stadium beginning at 2 p.m. before hosting the Big Ten Outdoor Championships from May 16-18.
