11 Event Titles Propel @IlliniMTrack at Illini Classic

Friday, January 15

Champaign, Ill.

Weight Throw: 6:00 PM

University of Illinois

Illini Classic

11 Event Titles Propel @IlliniMTrack at Illini Classic

January 16, 2016 | Men's Track & Field

Team Scores 185 points, Wells Wins Long Jump, 60m Hurdles

Full Results PDF

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Fighting Illini finished up their back-to-back home meets to begin the season with a dominating team 185 points to win the team score. Anchored by Jonathan Wells' two event titles, the Orange and Blue racked up 11 individual crowns on the day, including three freshman winning their first collegiate events: Devin Quinn (200m), Konrad Eiring (600m) and Jared Christiansen (800m).

"I was really pleased with our performances today," said Head Coach Mike Turk. "We have 12 guys that are {injured} right now, that's 60 points off our Big Ten team from last year that's not competing. So, to have the kind of performance we had today from the young guys [was great,} they really stepped up. The effort was terrific, and the performances were good, so I'm really pleased. They really closed the gaps and brought the team back together, and that was an important thing for us today."

On Friday night, much like last weekend in the Border Battle, Matsen Dziedzic and Michael Hyc got the Orange and Blue on the board early with 18 combined points in the weight throw. Swapping places from last weekend, the duo once again claimed the top two spots with Dziedzic taking the event crown and Hyc placing runner-up. The winning mark of 18.49m by Dziedzic soared past his personal-record, 17.50m throw at last year's Orange and Blue Open.

The tandem returned on Saturday morning, where they once again placed first and second in the shot put. This time, Hyc took the title with a personal-record mark of 16.72m. Following suit was Dziedzic with a throw of 15.91m to finish second overall. Two-time All-American Curt Jensen competed unattached this afternoon, marking 19.77m.

Continuing in field events, Jonathan Wells earned the first Illini event title on Saturday in his first long jump competition of the season. After a mark of 6.90m in his first jump, Wells leaped to 7.23m in his second jump, besting the rest of the field by 0.15m. Ben Barnes added 14 points to the team total with a third-place finish in the long jump (6.60m) and a runner-up finish in the triple jump (13.06m).

The final victory in field events came in the pole vault, where Blaze Galardy won the event with a mark of 4.70m. In addition to Galardy, and competing in the event for the first time, Jonathan Wells placed third with a 4.15m clearance.

The Orange and Blue carried the momentum started in field events into the track events where they won seven of the team's 11 events on the day.

Jonathan Wells added a second victory to his day in the 60m hurdles when he clocked an 8.02 60m hurdles time. As Wells works toward increasing his versatility for the team, Coach Turk acknowledged that these first couple meets have served as starting points for Wells going forward.

"We're moving Jonathan {Wells} into the multi-events this year," said Turk. "He'll compete in the decathlon and heptathlon this year, and so a big priority to day was that he's never competed in the pole vault in a meet before. So, that was a kind of a priority today. We also are looking for him to drop that hurdle time from what he's running the last couple weeks, and he did that."

In the distance events, Coach Stewart's group came through with victories in the mile, and then added a runner-up finish in the 3,000 meters. All-American Dylan Lafond distanced himself from the pack early on in the mile and cruised to a 4:08.55 time. Three other Illini rounded out the top-five in the event with Alex Gold finishing third, followed by Zack Smith and Billy Magnesen. In the 3,000m run, Dan Lathrop's time of 8:28.38 was good for eight points for the team, as he finished second overall.

In the middle distances, two freshman continued the team's success events with victories in the 600m and 800m. In the 600m, Konrad Eiring won the first race of his career with a time of 1:21.79. Joining him shortly thereafter was Jared Christiansen in the 800m, clocking a time of 1:55.82. Garrett Lee (1:55.99) and David Schmieg (1:5793) added points to Illinois' score by finishing second and sixth, respectively.

"It shows you that there's some talent that we've brought in, and that the staff has worked hard," said Turk. "I think it's because those guys are talented and they work hard. And, I think they've grabbed onto the vision of what we're doing, and they've bought into the system, and they're applying it."

The Orange and Blue swept the sprints, using both veteran experience and youth to score points. For the second week in a row, junior Kenneth Allen won the 400m race, besting his Border Battle time (49.47) by finishing in 48.72. After placing third and fourth, respectively, in the 200m and 60m dashes last weekend, freshman Devin Quinn was able to improve his place in both events this afternoon. In the 200m, Devin Quinn notched his first collegiate victory with a time of 21.94. In the 60m dash, Quinn finished second behind teammate Cole Henderson. Henderson's time of 6.82, just missing a personal-best mark, beat out Quinn by 0.02 seconds. Keveion Akins rounded out the point-scorers for the Illini with a 6.97 time, placing fifth.

With the opening home meets in the rearview mirror, Coach Turk and company will spend the next month competing away from the Armory. The road slate begins next weekend with the highly-touted Rod McCravy Memorial Meet in Lexington, Kentucky, followed by trips to the Lincoln and Ames. The Fighting Illini return home on February 20 for their final home indoor meet, the Orange and Blue Open.

Team Score: