University of Illinois
Rod McCravy Memorial Invite
@IlliniMTrack Successful First Day at Rod McCravy
January 22, 2016 | Men's Track & Field
Gold Wins 5K, Wells Leads Heptathlon, Three PRs
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Coach Turk's squad began the Rod McCravy Memorial Meet this afternoon with stellar performances from a variety of events. Competing against some of the best talent in the nation, the Orange and Blue's success began in the morning with Jonathan Well's leading the heptathlon competition after day one, while Alex Gold won the 5,000m run and three other Illini set personal-record marks.
"Overall, we had quite a bit of progress we made today, so I was pretty please," said Head Coach Mike Turk.
After training this past offseason with the aim of using his superb athletic ability in multi-events, Wells competed for the first time in the heptathlon this afternoon. Wells started strong by notching a 7.12 time in the 60m dash and a 7.30m mark in the long jump. Trailing host competitor Tim Duckworth by three points, Wells pushed himself into the lead with a 12.55m heave in the shot put. Although the mark was fifth-best, it was over a meter better than Duckworth. Now leading the pack by three points entering the day's final event, Wells stretched his lead out to 32 points with a 2.15m high jump. The heptathlon competition will conclude tomorrow morning with the 60m hurdles, followed by the pole vault and 1,000m run.
"He did really well," said Coach Turk. "He's not a finished product, it's his first time competing in a heptathlon. All things considered, he certainly performed well and we're pretty pleased. He's got to come back with another good day like that tomorrow and he'll be in pretty good shape."
In the weight throw, Matsen Dziedzic and Michael Hyc both finished in the top-half of 15-athlete field, placing sixth and seventh respectively. The duo has now finished back-to-back in three consecutive meets to start the season. Dziedzic's 18.61m and Hyc's 18.22m were both personal-record marks for the two sophomores.
"We've had a personal-record in that event every week this season, two in a row for Matsen," said Turk. "They're getting more confident, and for Michael Hyc he's really getting more consistent. The more consistent you are the better chance you have of hitting some better performances."
Moving to the track, Devin Quinn continued his emergence as one of Coach Turk's top early-season performers. A week after winning the 200m at the Illini Classic, Quinn topped his time today with a 21.72 finish that placed him fourth in one of the premiere indoor meets.
"He's very motivated, but there's a big, steep learning curve right now," said Turk. "That's helping him a lot right now; every time he goes out he learns a little bit more, does a little bit better. He had a really good performance, he's moving forward and next time he'll be better again."
The Orange and Blue saved their best for last this evening, dominating the competition in the 5,000-meter race by notching four of the top-five finishes. Winning his second distance event of the season, Alex Gold trotted across the finish line in a crisp 14:23.97, ten seconds before the rest of the field. Second in the event was another Illini in Dan Lathrop, clipping Jordan Cook of Missouri by four-one-hundredths (14:33.86) of a second. Rounding out the quartet is Zack Smith and Billy Magnesen, timing finishes of 14:38.97 and 14:39.31, respectively. Jereme Atchison completed the five Illini finishes with a time of 14:58.19 to place tenth.
"Alex ran extremely well," said Turk. "We thought the time would be a little faster, but the race didn't set up quite the way we thought to bring him through a little faster. He did everything we asked him to do, and he certainly ran a heck of a good race. We had our three young guys, Billy and Dan Lathrop, and Zack Smith. They all had moments where they had to make a decision to stick their nose in there, and they did that. They closed gaps when they needed to and hung in the race pretty well, so I was pleased with what they did."
The Orange and Blue return to Nutter Field House tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. central time with competition commencing with the conclusion of the men's heptathlon. For continued coverage of Fighting Illini Men's Track, follow @IlliniMTrack on Twitter.
Top-Ten Finishes:
1. Alex Gold: 5,000m (14:23.97) 2. Dan Lathrop: 5,000m (14:33.86) 2. Devin Quinn: 200m (21.72) 4. Zack Smith: 5,000m (14:38.97) 5. Billy Magnesen: 5,000m (14:38.97) 6. Matsen Dziedzic: Weight Throw (18.61m) 7. Michael Hyc: Weight Throw (18.22m) 10. Jereme Atchison: 5,000m (14:58.19)Devin Quinn blazes to a 4th place finish in the 200m dash, clocking a 21.72m PR! #Illini pic.twitter.com/YEcSGsxC4o
— Illini Men's Track (@IlliniMTrack) January 23, 2016
#Illini with 4 of top 5 finishes in the men's 5k! @goldgetzbucketz wins the event with a time of 14:23.97 pic.twitter.com/eKLJf0lUuz
— Illini Men's Track (@IlliniMTrack) January 23, 2016
