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Iowa State Classic
Friday, Feb. 13 // 12 p.m. CT
Saturday, Feb. 14 // 9:30 a.m. CT
Lied Recreational Center // Ames, Iowa

Meet Preview
The Fighting Illini men's track & field team will travel to Ames, Iowa for the Iowa State Classic on Friday, Feb. 13 and Saturday, Feb. 14. Competition begins at noon on Friday and 9:30 a.m. on Saturday in the Lied Recreational Center.

A Look At This Weekend's Competition
The field the Illini will be facing features a number of teams ranked in the USTFCCCA National Team Computer Rankings. No. 2 Florida, No. 6 LSU, No. 7 Nebraska, No. 12 Virginia Tech, No. 14 Texas Tech, No. 17 Oklahoma State, No. 18 Wisconsin, No. 20 Purdue and No. 23 Michigan State will all have athletes at the event. Illinois will also see Big Ten foes Iowa, Michigan and Minnesota.

Last Year's Iowa State Classic
The Illini sent a small group distance runners to the 2014 Iowa State Classic. Joe McAsey ran 1:49.92 in the 800m to finish 11th, and Zebo Zebe ran 1:50.67 to finish 14th. In the mile, Liam Markham was 10th in 4:04.04. Will Brewster ran 8:13.27 in the 3000m to finish 12th, while Ian Barnett was 15th in 8:16.81. The 5000m saw Jordan Hebert finish 11th in 14:01.33 and Jannis Toepfer grab 13th in 14:03.46.

Illini on the National Scene
The Illini have eight athletes ranked in the top 20 in the nation of their respective events. In the sprints, the 4x400m relay team of David Kendziera, Kenneth Allen, Joe McAsey and DJ Zahn is eighth in the country with a time of 3:08.95. Zahn also ranks in the top 20 of the 200m with a season-best performance of 20.96, good for 14th. McAsey is also ranked in an individual event, sitting in 18th in the 800m with a performance of 1:48.71. Cam Viney's 60m hurdle time of 7.85 is currently 19th in the nation.

Jonathan Wells is ninth in the high jump with a mark of 2.20m (7' 2.5"), while Davis Fraker moved into seventh with his school record toss of 21.80m (71' 6.25") in the weight throw.

B1G Contenders
The Illini currently have competitors ranked in the top 10 of the Big Ten in 14 different events. The Illini quartet of Brandon Stryganek (6.78), Mo Maat (6.78), Cole Henderson (6.80) and DJ Zahn (6.82) all rank in the top 10 of the 60m dash. Zahn also ranks second in the 200m with a time of 20.96, and Stryganek is third with a 21.16 season best. Zahn also boasts a fourth-place ranking in the 400m with a season best of 46.92. The 60m hurdles feature Cam Viney (7.85) and David Kendziera (7.93) at second and fifth, respectively, while the 4x400m relay team of Kendziera, Kenneth Allen McAsey and Zahn currently leads the Big Ten at 3:08.95.

In the middle distance, Joe McAsey leads the way for Illinois, sitting in top five of two events. He is fifth in the 600m (1:17.85) and third in the 800m (1:48.71). The Illini boast a pair of milers in the top 10 with Bryce Basting (4:03.97) and Liam Markham (4:04.26) sitting in sixth and seventh, respectively.

The distance events feature three athletes in the top 10. In the 3,000m, Ian Barnett (8:02.40), Jannis Toepfer (8:11.90) and Paul Zeman (8:14.43) rank fourth, seventh and 10th, respectively. Zeman is also seventh in the 5,000m with a season-best time of 14:31.01.

Illinois also has four field events with top-10 competitors. Jonathan Wells is second in the league in the high jump, clearing 2.20m (7' 2.5"), while boasting the third best long jump with a leap of 7.33m (24' 0.75"). In the triple jump, Branden Tanthavong has posted a season-best mark of 15.25m (50' 0.5"), good for fifth. Davis Fraker rounds out the athletes in the top 10 of the conference, currently sitting at fourth in the weight throw with a toss of 21.80m (71' 6.25").

Record Breakers
A pair of Illini athletes have set new school records this season. At the Rod McCravy Memorial Meet, Ian Barnett broke Ty Wolf's 30-year-old school record in the 3,000m (8:03.55), racing to a time of 8:02.40. At the Frank Sevigne Husker Invite, Davis Fraker broke his own school record in the weight throw with a toss of 21.80m (71' 6.25").

Top-10 Additions
Jonathan Wells began his Illini career by jumping into the top five on the school's all-time high jump list. His clearance of 2.13m (6' 11.75") was the fourth-best mark in school history.

A week later at the Illini Classic, Wells cleared 2.20m (7' 2.5") in the high jump to move into second in school history, just .01m off the school record. In the 60m dash, Mo Maat posted a time of 6.78, tying him for the ninth-fastest time in Illinois history. The 60m hurdles featured David Kendziera posting a time of 7.96 to jump from ninth all-time into a tie for eighth.

At the Rod McCravy Invite, Joe McAsey jumped into the top-10 of the 800m, running 1:48.71 for the ninth-best mark in school history.

At the Frank Sevigne Husker Invite, DJ Zahn ran 20.96 in the 200m to move to second on Illinois' all-time list. Also at the meet, Kendziera jumped up even further on the 60m hurdle list, running 7.93 to move into seventh.

Next Week
The Illini will split the squad between two meets next weekend. Illinois hosts the Orange and Blue Open at the UI Armory on Saturday, Feb. 21, with field events beginning at 10 a.m. and action on the track starting at 12 p.m. Some members of the team will head to Notre Dame's Alex Wilson Invite.