Meet Results | Highlights | Coach Turk Interview | Stryganek Interview
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Illinois men's track and field team hosted the Illini Classic at the UI Armory Saturday. The Illini won the team title in the eight-team meet with 266 points, more than doubling up runner-up Southeast Missouri State. The win marks the second-straight victory for the Orange and Blue after they won the Border Battle last week.
"I thought it was a really exciting day," proclaimed head coach Mike Turk. "We had some really outstanding performances. We had really great leadership from our older guys, and some of our young freshmen showed that they have a lot to give and can really compete at a high level. I am very pleased with the overall effort."
A week after breaking into the all-time list in his collegiate debut, Jonathan Wells put together an even better performance in the high jump in front of the home crowd. Wells cleared 2.20m (7' 2.50") to win the event, nearly matching the school record (2.21m) set by Gail Olson in 1979 and 1980. Wells also finished second in the long jump, leaping 7.08m (23' 2.75").
The Illini also had very good success on the track, starting with the 60m hurdles. Cam Viney earned the victory in the event final after qualifying with the fastest time in prelims. Viney broke the tape in 7.85, tying his personal best, which is the fourth-best mark in school history. David Kendziera finished right behind Viney, clocking a new personal-best mark of 7.96. This time bumps him up to a tie for eighth on Illinois' all-time list.
The 60m dash featured similar results for the Illini. Brandon Stryganek and Molefi Maat were the top-two finishers in the event, clocking identical times of 6.78. Stryganek already has the third-best time in school history at 6.71, but that performance ties Maat for the 10th-fastest time in Illinois history. Cole Henderson grabbed fourth for the Orange and Blue, while DJ Zahn was sixth.
Stryganek doubled up his titles with a win in the 200m, winning with a time of 21.54. Zahn was nipping at his heels, taking second in 21.56, just .02 off Stryganek's pace.
Joe McAsey, the 2014 Big Ten runner-up in the 600m, began his quest to move one spot up the podium, winning the 600m in 1:19.02. Tony Zea also put together a strong performance in the event, finishing fifth.
In the mile, the Orange and Blue had the first three finishers, as Garrett Lee (4:13.05), Jannis Toepfer (4:14.06) and Will Brewster (4:14.09) finished first, second and third respectively. All three Illini were within a few seconds of their personal bests. Brendan McDonnell (4:20.04) added a fifth-place showing to the cause.
In the 3000m, Ian Barnett cruised to the win, breaking the tape in 8:15.86. Teammate Alex Gold was the next runner to cross the finish line, clocking 8:23.76.
Other than Wells in the high jump, Matthew Bane was the only other field event participant to capture a title. He won the pole vault with a clearance of 5.00m (16' 4.75").
Illinois had a number of other strong performances that didn't result in event wins. Kenneth Allen was the top finisher for the Orange and Blue in the 400m, finishing second in 48.82. In the 800m, the trio of Bryce Basting, Malik Lee and David Schmieg finished second, third and fourth, respectively.
In the field events, Davis Fraker and Branden Tanthavong came up just short of event wins. Fraker nabbed a second-place finish in the weight throw with a toss of 20.87m (68' 5.75m). That mark was just short of the school record he set last season. Tanthavong also finished second, reeling in runner-up honors in the triple jump. He had a personal-best leap of 15.25m (50' 0.50").
In the long jump, Henderson and Maat finished right behind Wells, claiming third and fourth, respectively. Henderson jumped 6.94m (22' 9.25") and Maat recorded a mark of 6.87m (22' 6.50"). In the shot put, Matsen Dziedzic (3rd), Michael Hyc (4th) and Brandon Noe (5th) showed Illinois' depth in the event. Dziedzic also added a third-place finish in the weight throw with a personal-best heave of 17.03m (55' 10.50"). Parker Deloye grabbed fourth to go with Wells' win.
The Illini 4x400m relay of Kendziera, Deloye, Viney and Maurice Watkins closed out the meet with a second-place finish in the event. The quartet's time of 3:20.55 was just .12 seconds behind the winning squad from Loyola.
The Illini will be back in action next weekend when they head to the Rod McCravy Invitational in Lexington, Kentucky. That meet begins on Friday, Jan. 23 and continues through Saturday, Jan. 24.
"Each week we have to keep our focus and keep working hard," said Turk when asked to look ahead. "It's about consistency right now and working hard every day. We had a good performance by the team overall, but it's good enough to where we want to be. I have a lot of confidence in the leadership of this team that they'll come back and keep working hard next week."
