Results

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Illinois men's track and field team sent a small group of predominately distance and middle-distance runners to the Indiana Relays on Friday afternoon. While the squad may have been small, the performances were notable, as many came away with lifetime-best performances.

"I thought we competed really well today," said distance coach Jake Stewart. "Everyone was in their respective races and we accomplished what we wanted to at this meet. Guys took advantage of the opportunity and had some nice performances."

In the 600m, Malik Lee had a personal-best performance, clocking 1:19.44. At the same distance, Tony Zea finished in 1:21.66.

"Malik had a really good day," Stewart noted. "He went out aggressively just as we wanted him to do, which resulted in a personal best. Today was a nice step forward for him. Tony Zea competed really well at the same distance. He was in a race full of upperclassmen but showed no hesitation in mixing it up with those guys."

In the mile, Liam Markham finished sixth in 4:04.26, while Bryce Basting was eighth with a time of 4:05.71. David Schmieg rounded out the mile crew with a time of 4:16.66.

"Liam had a great day in the mile," noted Stewart. "He ran really close to his personal best, but we know there is still a lot more there. Bryce went out aggressively as planned but ran out of gas at the end. Both he and David ran lifetime bests. I would say the mile went really well for our guys."

Jannis Toepfer won the 3000m in a time of 8:11.90. His time was just three seconds off his personal best, despite the fact that he ran the last portion of the race on his own. Alex Gold finished fifth in the event in a personal-best time of 8:17.85.

"Jannis came back and ran a good race after not performing how he wanted to at Kentucky," Stewart continued. "Alex also ran a nice race and wound up with a lifetime best."

Maurice Watkins, the lone sprinter in the group, competed in the 200m. He finished in a time of 22.56, eclipsing his previous best at an indoor meet.

"I think the younger guys gained a lot of confidence today," Stewart proclaimed. "Today showed that they can handle these kinds of environments and that they belong in these types of races. All in all, we had a good day and got a lot out of this trip. The guys recognized that they had an opportunity, took advantage of it and performed well."

The rest of the Illini continued training through Friday's meet, but will return to action a week from today. On Friday, Feb. 6 and Saturday, Feb. 7, Illinois will travel to Lincoln, Nebraska for the Frank Sevigne Husker Invite.