Vinèy Leads Way on Day Two at B1G Championships

Saturday, May 14

Lincoln, Neb.

All Day

University of Illinois

Big Ten Outdoor Championships

May 14, 2016 | Men's Track & Field

Senior qualifies in top-three for both 110m and 400m hurdles; Six Illini advance to finals

Day 2 Results | Live Scoring | Heat Sheets | Championship Central

LINCOLN, Neb. – Fighting Illini senior Cam Vinèy led the way for the Fighting Illini men's track and field team on day two of the 2016 Big Ten Outdoor Championships at Ed Weir Stadium on the campus of the University of Nebraska. The Orange and Blue had six qualifiers for Sunday's finals, including two top-three times by Viney.

Vinèy, the defending champion in the 400m hurdles, won his preliminary heat and finished with the third-best qualifying time for Sunday's final (51.08), where he'll look to repeat as 400m hurdle champion. Vinèy also finished with the third overall qualifying time in the 110m hurdles (14.14) to advance to the finals, where he'll look to improve on his second place finish from a year ago.

"Cam wasn't as sharp in the 110s as I know he would have liked, but it was an easy race for him," head coach Michael Turk said of Viney. "He looked super in the 400 hurdles, though, and is poised to do very well in both finals tomorrow."

A pair of Illini qualified for the 1,500m final, as senior Bryce Basting won his heat in 3:55.12 to automatically advance and freshman Jesse Reiser advanced on time from his qualifying heat with a 3:47.54, the third best overall time among the three preliminary heats.

"Bryce won his heat easily to qualify for the final," Turk said of the 1,500. "Jesse showed great instincts and tactics to auto qualify in his heat, which was a loaded heat and the fastest heat of the day. Tremendous performance by both Bryce and Jesse to make it through.

Two Illini also will run in the 100m final, with sophomore Mo Maat and freshman Devin Quinn both running times of 10.42 to advance to Sunday's final, ranking fourth and sixth, respectively, after Saturday's prelims.

"Devin and Mo ran exceptionally well in the 100 prelims to qualify for tomorrow's final," Turk said. "I think it was a big statement by our sprint crew that we will continue to be a factor in the Big Ten Conference. Its no secret that we've had several injuries this year and both of those guys have been hurt, on and off, for most of the year. I think they used sheer willpower to perform the way they did."

The Fighting Illini, who are attempting to defend their 2015 B1G Outdoor team title, have yet to score a team point with eight of 21 events completed. Thirteen event finals will be completed on Sunday.

"Like every Big Ten meet, we had our share of ups and downs on the results table," Turk said. "But our team has competed and is representing the program well. The effort, intensity and execution has been good. We have a lot of work to do on the points table but we do have 6 finals qualifiers from today's prelims to go along with our guys in the javelin, the 5k and both relays."

The Illini will return to Ed Weir Stadium for the final day of the 2016 Big Ten Outdoor Track and Field Championship on Sunday. The last day of competition starts at Noon CT with field events. Running event finals begin at 1:45 p.m. with the 4x100m relay.

Live video coverage of the final day will begin at 1:40 p.m. CT on BTN2Go, while Big Ten Network will televise the final day tape-delayed starting at 6 p.m. CT on Sunday.