University of Illinois
NCAA Outdoor Championships
Viney Earns Sixth All-American Honor
June 8, 2016 | Men's Track & Field
Senior Places 10th in 400m Hurdles Semifinal
EUGENE, Ore. – Fighting Illini senior Cam Viney secured his sixth All-American honor, timing 50.73 in his 400m hurdles semifinal. Viney's time was good for 10th overall, but fell shy of the top-eight to qualify for Friday's event final.
Racing in arguably the deepest of the three heats, Viney stormed out of the blocks, staying on the heels of eventual heat winner Eric Futch of Florida and runner-up Kenny Selmon of North Carolina. However, after a strong close by UCLA's Rai Benjamin and Desmond Palmer of Pittsburgh, Viney fell to fifth in his heat, eliminating him from qualifying for the final.
"Tactically, he ran his best race of the year," explained Head Coach Mike Turk. "He followed the race plan. I think one of things these past couple races, including the Big Ten meet, he came out too tentative early in the race and had to do a lot of work to get back into it. We talked about getting out a little bit better today, and I think he did that. I don't think he got out too fast, he was right in there, and just faded towards the end. He made a really good run at it. Unfortunately, he came up a little bit short of making the final."
Viney concludes his career at Illinois as a six-time All-American, two of which came in the 400m hurdles, and a three-time Big Ten Champion. The Elkins, West Virginia native also leaves campus ranked in the top-five in the 60m hurdles, 110m hurdles and 400m hurdles.
"Not everybody is going to be a national champion, and I know that's something that he had set in his sights, but he made a heck of an impact on our program," said Turk. "I think that speaks well to the work that he put in, he came a long way, but I think a lot of credit also goes to Coach Wheatley for grooming him to compete at this level. The partnership those two shared was really something special."
Last season, Viney was the Big Ten Champion in the 400m hurdles and earned four All-American honors. His efforts helped lead the Illini to their first Big Ten title since 1994, and the program's best finish at NCAA Championships, tying for 10th, since 1988.
"He's a great example of our program, someone who came from very modest beginnings. He wasn't a really highly recruited guy, but [he] came in and certainly worked very hard and put forth a lot of effort. One of the things I'm proudest of in Cam's case is that he's a really good, well-rounded student-athlete. He's done a great job in the classroom, he's taken care of his work, and he's really excelled on the athletic field as well. I think that's a win; that's a success story."
.@cam_viney unable to advance, but the 10th place finish secures his 6th All-American honor! #Illini pic.twitter.com/a916v8RWcz
— Illini Men's Track (@IlliniMTrack) June 9, 2016
