As the Fighting Illini prepare for their final fune up before Big Ten Championships, Head Coach Mike Turk handed out his weekly awards for Week 5 of the track and field season. The Illini are coming off the Iowa State Classic, a meet headlined by the success of the distance group. Dylan Lafond set a new school record in the 5,000m, while Ian Barnett and Jesse Reiser (unattacehd) both had successful weekends. 

"I think this was a really good weekend for our distance runners," said Head Coach Mike Turk. "Our distance program is maturing, and it's so much better in a long, long time. Jake [Stewart] has done a great job, and the results are really starting to show. You saw results last night,  Ian Barnett  ran a good 3K, Lathrop and Magnesen both ran personal-records in the 5K, and it picked up [again] today."

Distance Athlete of the Week: Dylan Lafond

Dylan Lafond set the school record in the 5,000m race on Friday evening when he ran a 13:46.72 time. His time beat out Jeff Jacob's 13:52.35 back in 1984. 

Field Athlete of the Week: Michael Hyc

Hyc set a personal-best mark in the shot put competition on Saturday afternoon, marking 55-8 1/4 (16.97m).

Sprinter of the Week: Devin Quinn

Devin Quinn earns his first 'Sprinter of the Week' after his 21.51 time in the 200m set a personal-record. After finishing 4th in the 200m on Friday, Quinn followed it up with a third-place finish in the 60m dash on Saturday with a time of 6.78.

Rookie of the Week: Jesse Reiser

Running unattached, Reiser clocked a 4:06.26 time in the mile. The time was the best out of any Illini in the event.

Special Award of the Week: Ian Barnett

In the 3,000m, Barnett ran an efficient 8:06.25 time to place in the top-20 a week after returning from an early season injury.