University of Illinois
Frank Sevigne Husker Invite
Wells Highlights @IlliniMTrack Day 2 at Husker Invite
February 6, 2016 | Men's Track & Field
Jonathan Wells and Dylan Lafond Each Win Event Titles
LINCOLN, NEB. – The Men's Track and Field team completed competition at the 41st annual Frank Sevigne Husker Invite with a couple impressive performances in day two. Early in the afternoon, Cam Viney placed third in the 60m hurdles, Dylan Lafond won the mile run, and then Jonathan Wells ended the day by winning the high jump, falling just shy of the school record.
Although the meet as a whole did not go the way Head Coach Mike Turk envisioned, he believes the weekend will benefit the team in the long run.
"We have to get better, and we know that," said Turk. "Some of it is in our control, and some of it's not. We just have to focus on what's within our control, and do those things. That's the message we all have to look at: how are we going to get better in the next couple of weeks? What can we control? The big positive is that we always walk out of here disappointed that we didn't perform better, but in the end this is one of those meets that toughens us up. This team is young and, with the guys we've had out, they have to learn that lesson."
The highlight of the weekend for the Orange and Blue came in the high jump. Sophomore Jonathan Wells finished as the top collegiate competitor with a 7-21/4 (2.19m) clearance. The mark was Well's best of the season, and just shy of his indoor personal-record. After clearing 7-21/4, Wells made attempts at breaking the school record of 7-31/2 (2.23m), but ultimately fell short.
"I like that we put together a plan for him to just come in and have some fun, and give him a chance to focus on one event," said Coach Turk. "I really wanted him to take it with the kind of attitude that he had nothing to lose. Once you clear a couple bars, it's like gambling with house money, nothing but positive stuff can happen and that's what we wanted. He's just so driven, and everything is so hard, I just wanted him to lighten up. I thought he did really good job of that. As a team, we really needed that performance out of him. With the way things went this weekend, that was a big lift to our team."
After running a personal-record in the 60m hurdles last night, the third-best mark in Illini indoor history, Cam Viney returned for the event final. However, Viney was unable to replicate his 7.82 time from Friday night, as he timed a 7.83 time to finish third in the event. Similar to the prelims on Friday, it was two Nebraska hurdlers, Antoine Lloyd and Oladapo Akinmoladun edging out the Illini senior.
"{Cam} ran two hurdle races under his old personal-record," said Turk. "Historically, we haven't seen him be able to put back-to-back races like that, so that's really encouraging for us and our team. He wants to qualify for NCAAs, and that's the kind of thing he has to be able to do."
Beginning day two of the heptathlon in fifth place, Parker placed second in his 60m hurdles heat with a time of 8.87, but placed ninth overall. In the pole vault, Deloye cleared 3.80m on his third attempt but was unable to clear the bar at 3.90. He rounded out the heptathlon with a 3:19.25 time in the 1,000m. Overall, Deloye placed ninth in the seven-event competition with a score of 4717.
In the 200m dash, Mo Maat won his heat with a 21.91 time, a tenth of a second behind his previous time in the Border Battle. Overall, the sophomore placed third in the event.
"Mo really showed a lot," said Turk. "I know the results aren't going to look great for him, but they're solid. Looking back at the 60m yesterday, he got off to a rough start but put his race back together and brought a great finish and almost made the final. I think just the confidence for him that he can put the pedal and go hard was important for him today."
In the men's mile special, Dylan Lafond closed hard to finish first among college competitors, coming in with a time of 4:04.87. The time was just three-tenths of a second behind unattached runner Bryce Basting. Also competing was Garrett Lee, who finished sixth with a time of 4:11.09.
Competing in the other mile competition, Alex Gold hung towards the front of the pack and took the lead entering the final 200m. However, Kansas' Dylan Hodgson came on strong to edge Gold with a time of 4:15.15. Gold's time of 4:15.47 placed him 11th overall. Liam Markham represented the Orange and Blue in section two of the race, placing fourth in his heat and fourth overall.
Jared Christiansen competed in his first 600m run of the season, placing seventh overall with a time of 1:22.11. In the 600m special, Konrad Eiring ran the three-lap race in 1:20.75.
Following the 600m, was Luke Schroer and Tony Zea in the 800m. Zea was the first of the duo to finish, with a time of 1:54.71, followed by Schroer at 1:58.18.
The distance events concluded with the 3,000m run, where four Illini represented the Orange and Blue. Running for the first time this season was Ian Barnett, who finished sixth with a time of 8:15.32. Barnett was followed by Billy Magnesen (8:20.70), Zack Smith (8:23.34), and Dan Lathrop (8:26.02).
"Having Ian back, it was a real lift to us as well," explained Turk. "He looked really good. I know he might have left a little bit out there, and he admitted that, but it's a cautious approach since he's a little rusty. For knocking the rust off, I thought that was a great race for him."
Matsen Dziedzic and Michael Hyc competed this morning in the shot put. The two Illini sophomores finished back-to-back, but failed to advance to the finals of the event. Dziedzic's 53-23/4 (16.22m) placed 13th, while Michael Hyc marked 52-101/4 (16.11m) for a 14th-place finish.
The other field event today was in the pole vault where Blaze Galardy cleared 15-61/4 (4.73m) in today's competition.
Up Next:
The Fighting Illini have a short week of practice before leaving on Thursday for next Friday and Saturday's Iowa State Classic in Ames, Iowa. The meet is the final road competition before Big Ten Indoor Championships at the end of the month.
Top-Five Finishes (Friday):
5) Cam Viney: 60m Hurdles, 7.82q
Top-Five Finishes (Saturday):
1) Jonathan Wells: High Jump, 7-21/4 (2.19m)
1) Dylan Lafond: Mile, 4:04.87
3) Mo Maat: 200m, 21.91
3) Cam Viney: 60m Hurdles, 8.73
4) Liam Markham: Mile, 4:09.77
