April 23, 2010
DES MOINES, Iowa - The Illinois men's track and field team had a successful day despite the rainy conditions at the Drake Relays on Friday, advancing to the finals in four events. Sophomore Andrew Riley posted the top preliminary time in the 110m hurdles and led the 4x100m relay to the second-fastest time of the day at historic Drake Stadium. The 4x400m also qualified for Saturday's event final along with sophomore Stanley Azie, who moved on individually in the 100m dash.
"We had an outstanding day all around," interim head coach Mike Turk said. "We ran really well in the 4x100m even though Andrew's shoe came off during the first leg. Alabama was the only team to run faster than us, so we will see if we can give them a run for the title tomorrow."
Riley ran the opening leg of the 4x100m relay and lost his shoe midway through, but was able to complete the handoff to senior Azeez Shogbuyi. The Illini received solid performances over the final two legs from freshman Josh Zinzer and Azie to post a mark of 40.28, which ranked only behind Alabama (40.04) in the preliminaries. The Illini and Crimson Tide will square off again in the final at 5 p.m. tomorrow.
"Our handoffs are getting better and that team is starting to gel together," Turk said. "We ran a pretty good time for the race being early in the morning in the cold, wind and rain."
The Kingston, Jamaica native was able to keep both shoes on in the 110m hurdles, where he ran the fastest time of the day at 13.96. Riley, who holds the second-fastest time (13.53) in the NCAA in the event, will run in the final at 3:13 p.m. on Saturday.
"Andrew ran great in the hurdles," Turk said. "It looked so easy for him to run that time despite the trying conditions in the wind and rain."
In the 4x400m, the Illini foursome of junior Shane Daniel, freshmen Bai Kabba and Malcolm Taylor and junior Dan Jones placed seventh in preliminaries with a time of 3:10.28. Iowa (3:08.97) posted the top time of the day followed by Baylor (3:09.10) and Alabama (3:09.78). All eight qualifying relays will compete at 6:05 p.m. on Saturday.
"I was extremely pleased that our 4x400m relay made the final," Turk said. "I wasn't sure how we'd stack up, but they ran really well. Bai Kabba ran his best race of the spring and has really come around."
Illinois' final individual qualifier came in the 100m dash, as Azie finished sixth with a time of 10.63. The Bolingbrook, Ill., native is scheduled to run in the final at 2:37 p.m. tomorrow against the other seven qualifiers, including Mississippi's Michael Granger, who tallied the top preliminary time of 10.45.
The Orange and Blue also took part in three event finals, with the best showing coming in the 4x200m relay. The quartet of Kabba, Shogbuyi, Zinzer and Azie clocked a time of 1:25.21 and tied for third overall. In the 4x1600m, the Illini squad of senior Mike Murray and sophomores Graham Farnsworth, Colin Mickow and Kyle Engnell placed sixth with a time of 16:53.37. Junior Casey Fonnesbeck was 14th in the shot put with a mark of 52-2 ½ (15.91m).
Illinois resumes competition at the Drake Relays on Saturday, beginning at 10 a.m. with Greg Shroka in the high jump. The Orange and Blue will compete in 11 events tomorrow and look to add another Drake Champion to go along with Hunter Mickow's 10,000m victory from Friday night.
Illinois Schedule at the Drake Relays
Saturday, April 24
10:00 a.m.....High Jump final (Greg Shroka)
10:35 p.m.....Sprint Medley Relay final (Azeez Shogbuyi, Josh Zinzer, Bai Kabba, Malcolm Taylor)
1:11 p.m.......Distance Medley Relay final (Graham Farnsworth, Shane Daniel, Scott Phelps, Brian Beaird)
1:49 p.m.......400m Hurdles final (Cody Wisslead)
2:15 p.m.......Hammer Throw final (Matt McHugh)
2:37 p.m.......100m final (Stanley Azie)
3:00 p.m.......Triple Jump final (Oz Lifshitz)
3:13 p.m.......110m Hurdles final (Andrew Riley)
5:00 p.m.......4x100m Relay final (Andrew Riley, Azeez Shogbuyi, Josh Zinzer, Stanley Azie)
5:18 p.m.......1500m final (Mike Murray)
6:05 p.m.......4x400m Relay final (Shane Daniel, Bai Kabba, Malcolm Taylor, Dan Jones)
