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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Fighting Illini men's track and field team has nine athletes that qualified for the 2015 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Competition will take place at Hayward Field in Eugene, Oregon from June 25-28.
Brandon Stryganek (200m), DJ Zahn (400m), Joe McAsey (800m), David Kendziera (400H), Cam Viney (400H), Dylan Lafond (Steeple) and Davis Fraker (Hammer) will represent the Orange and Blue in over the course of the four days of the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. Additionally, Dan Lathrop (10,000) and Jonathan Wells (High Jump) will represent the Illini in the United States Outdoor Track & Field Junior Championships.
The weekend will begin on Thursday, June 25 with five Illinois representatives competing. Fraker starts things off in the finals of the hammer throw. Fraker is coming off an 11th-place finish at the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships. The Illini school-record holder had a 2015 season-best throw of 68.41m (224' 5") at the Musco Twilight Invite on May 2.
McAsey will be the second Illini to take the track on Thursday, as he competes in the first round of the 800m run. McAsey, the Big Ten runner-up in the event, earned first-team All-American honors at the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships as part of Illinois' eighth-place 1,600m relay. McAsey posted a season-best 800m time of 1:47.91 at the Payton Jordan Invitational on May 2.
Zahn will take the stage after McAsey, competing in the first round of the 400m. The Big Ten Outdoor Track Athlete of the Year, as well as the Big Ten Outdoor Track Athlete of the Championships, Zahn returns to the site of the NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships where he earned first-team All-America honors in three separate events. Zahn, the third-place finish in the 400m at the NCAA Championships, posted his best performance of the season in the event at both the Big Ten Champions and NCAA West Preliminary Round, clocking 45.51 on both weekends.
Kendziera and Viney will wrap up the first day of competition for the Orange and Blue by competing in the first round of the 400m hurdles. Like Zahn, Kendziera is coming off a third-place finish in the event at the NCAA Championships, having run a season-best time of 49.56 on his way to bronze. Kendziera's three best performances of the season have come in each of his last three races. Viney finished 11th in the event at the NCAA Championships but ran 49.92 at the Jim Click Shootout on April 11.
The Illini are guaranteed at least one representative on Friday, June 26. Lafond, the seventh-place finisher in the steeplechase at the NCAA Championships, will compete in the first round of steeplechase competition. Lafond ran his three fastest times of the season in his last three races, including his season-best 8:41.11 at the NCAA Championships.
Saturday, June 27 will feature Stryganek in the first round of the 200m. The third-place finisher in the Big Ten, Stryganek posted a season-best time of 20.65 at the NCAA West Preliminary Round on May 30.
In the event that an Illinois representative advances through multiple rounds of the championships, a full schedule of each event with an Illini competitor is listed below.
Lathrop and Wells will compete in the USA Track & Field Junior Championships on Friday, June 26 and Saturday, June 27. Wells, the co-runner-up at the Big Ten Championships in the high jump, enters Friday's competition with a season-best clearance of 2.17m (7' 1.50"), which he accomplished twice this season. Lathrop, who redshirted this year, will be competing in the 10,000m run on Saturday.
USATF Championships Schedule
Thursday, June 25
3:55 p.m. - Hammer Final (Davis Fraker)
4:00 p.m. - 800m First Round (Joe McAsey)
4:45 p.m. - 400m First Round (DJ Zahn)
5:10 p.m. - 400H First Round (David Kendziera)
5:10 p.m. - 400H First Round (Cam Viney)
Friday, June 26
6:10 p.m. - Steeplechase (Dylan Lafond)
7:04 p.m. - 400m Hurdles Semifinals
7:53 p.m. - 400m Semifinals
8:44 p.m. - 800m Semifinals
Saturday, June 27
12:05 p.m. - 200m First Round (Brandon Stryganek)
2:11 p.m. - 400m Hurdle Final
2:42 p.m. - 400m Final
Sunday, June 28
11:50 p.m. - 200m Semifinals
1:57 p.m. - 800m Final
2:06 p.m. - Steeplechase Final
2:22 p.m. - 200m Final
USATF Junior Championships Schedule
Friday, June 26
11:00 a.m. - High Jump Final (Jonathan Wells)
Saturday, June 27
6:01 p.m. - 10,000m Final (Dan Lathrop)
