University of Illinois
Drake Relays
@IlliniMTrack 4x800m Relay Impresses at Drake Relays
April 29, 2016 | Men's Track & Field
Middle Distance Group Clocks 7:28.72 4x800m
DES MOINES, IA – After distance runner Ian Barnett led the Illini on day one, his fellow teammates added to the distance success with a runner-up finish in the 4x800m relay on day two at Drake Relays. The quartet combined for a 7:28.72 split that featured two legs of the relay ran by underclassmen.
"[It was] a lot of fun watching those four guys compete tonight," said distance coach Jake Stewart. "The crowd was great, and for these guys to get out there and get a chance to run in that sort of environment and take advantage of it was a lot of fun. I'm sure these guys won't forget this sort of experience."
Coach Stewart fielded a 4x800m crew tonight that featured youth to jump start the race. An experienced 4x800m participant in high school, freshman Konrad Eiring pushed the Illini out of the gate with a strong opening leg that was followed by an equally solid performance from sophomore Tevor Keuhr in the second leg.
"For a true freshman to step onto that stage, and to run a really smart, timed-out leg and hand off in a really good position [was impressive]. He showed a lot of poise and a lot of composure. And then, Trevor [Kuehr] stuck to what he does best, running very conservative early and then closing the leg out, and really maintaining the position he got the baton in."
After Keuhr, the Illini turned to seniors Bryce Basting and All-American Joe McAsey to close out the remaining 1600m. After the exchange between the two seniors, McAsey surged out to the lead, but was unable to hold off Goaner Deng of Minnesota. However, it was the tenacity of both seniors that impressed Stewart.
"Basting dropped down and ran a really aggressive third leg for us. This sort of environment really fits Bryce's personality. He's a team guy, he loves relays, and tonight he ran a really smart, really aggressive race for us. And then on the end, Joe McAsey is a fifth-year senior, is used to those environments and he told me he wanted to be the anchor tonight. He got the stick, ran a 51-second first 400m, got to the lead but ran out of gas. [Overall,] I'm really happy. These guys ran really well. It's great walking away from this race for these four guys with this experience."
Elsewhere, the Fighting Illini fell short of qualifying in both the 4x100m and 4x400m relays this afternoon. In the 4x100m, the Orange & Blue clocked a 40.97 time, while the 4x400m squad ran a 3:10.86 mark. However, Coach Turk believes both of the relays are not far off of where they want to be heading into the season's final weeks.
"Cam and Ken Allen ran their best splits of the year, and it was our best time of the year," said Coach Turk. "We are close to the breakthrough on the [4x400m] relay, and I feel good about their performance today and how we can set up going into Big Ten Championships."
In field events, Ben Dodds marked 206'0" (62.58m) in the javelin to place fourth in the field. Aaron Wilks did not compete due to a slight injury.
"[Ben] was a real bright spot for us today," said Turk. "He competed very well against good competition in less than ideal conditions, so I'm very pleased with his results. I feel bad that we had to hold Wilks out as a precaution because of injury. If this was the Big Ten meet, he'd have made a go of it. I just didn't want to take a chance of making it worse after his breakout last week."
The Fighting Illini wrap up action at Drake Relays tomorrow with both the sprint and distance medley relays. The sprint medley will begin at 10:20 a.m., followed by the distance medley at 12:30 p.m.
