Full Results
COLLEGE STATION, TX– David Kendziera placed fourth in the 60m hurdles and Jonathan Wells broke his own Illinois school record in the heptathlon, as both Illini earned First Team All-America honors at 2017 NCAA Indoor Championships. It's Kendziera's fourth All-America honor, while Wells' takes home his third All-America accolade. The Illini placed 30th overall in the 62-team field.
"They're two guys that are both veterans that have been here before, and they performed like they've been here before," Head Coach Mike Turk said of the two All-Americans. "They knew what they were doing. I think that's a big part of having success here – being groomed for this kind of competition and setting. Both of them handled things extremely well throughout this weekend."
After timing 7.76 in the semifinal on Friday, David Kendziera registered the second fastest time of his career, 7.73, to finish fourth in the 60m hurdles final. It's the fourth All-America honor for the hurdler, the first in the 60m hurdles.
The fourth-place finish by the Mount Prospect, Illinois native also ties the second best finish in program history, tying Jim Hanion (1976) and Andrew Riley (2012). Riley also owns the best finish in program history, as the four-time All-American won the NCAA title in College Station as a junior in 2011.
In the heptathlon, Jonathan Wells broke his own school record by scoring 5,786 points across the seven events. Personal-record performances in the long jump, shot put and pole vault highlighted the two-day competition for the Illini junior.
"He's progressing well," Turk said of Wells. "He's got some things to do to go to the next level, but he's capable of doing it. The thing I was really pleased with was how well he handled transitioning between events and competing at a high level in each event. That's a hard thing for some multi athletes, and some never figure it out. I thought he did a great job with keeping his emotions in check, progressing through the competition and making the proper adjustments."
Entering day two in fourth place with 3,418 points, Wells opened competition with a 8.11 time in the 60m hurdles, fourth-best among his competitors, to score 954 points.
After setting two personal-best performances on day one of competition, Wells added a third in his second event of the day the with a height of 15'7.25" (4.76m) in the pole vault. Wells cleared the first five bars without a single miss, and then cleared the new lifetime-best mark on his second attempt. The height topped his previous personal-best of 15'5" (4.70m) at the Illini Classic earlier this year.
The second time he's broken the school record this season, Wells first broke Steve Monte's school record of 5,577 points on February 3-4 at the Husker Invite when he tallied 5,685 points.
Up next, the Illini will travel west to begin their outdoor season, as they compete next weekend at the UNLV Invite in Las Vegas, Nevada. Held at the Myron Patridge Stadium, the meet begins with multi-events on March 16 and 17 that precede the rest of the competition on Saturday, March 18.
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