University of Illinois
Texas Relays
Illini Men’s Track Resumes Outdoor Season Across Three Meets
March 29, 2017 | Men's Track & Field
Illini compete at Texas Relays, Stanford Invite and EIU Big Blue Classic
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Fighting Illini men's and track and field will resume their outdoor season with three different meets in three different regions of the United States. Illinois will send its top hurdlers and sprinters to the 90th Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays, presented by Spectrum, two distance runners and a thrower to the Stanford Invite, while the rest of the team competes at the Eastern Illinois Big Blue Classic. Illini competition at the Texas Relays begins Thursday, March 30, while both the Stanford Invite and EIU Big Blue Classic start competition Friday, March 31.
| Texas Relays | |
|---|---|
| When | Thursday, March 30 - Saturday, April 1 |
| Where | Mike A. Myers Stadium // Austin, Texas |
| Meet Information | Schedule | Event Home | Tickets | Parking | History | Points of Interest | Austin Urban Music Festival |
| Live Links | Results | Stream |
| Team Information | Meet Notes | Performance List | Media Guide | Quick Facts |
| Social Media | @IlliniMTrack  | #Illini | @Illinimtrack  | Facebook  | YouTube  |
| Stanford Invite | |
|---|---|
| When | Friday, March 31 - Saturday, April 1 |
| Where | Cobb Track & Angell Field // Stanford, Calif. |
| Meet Information | Schedule | Information | Entries | |
| Live Links | FloTrack Live Stream | Results |
| Team Information | Meet Notes | Performance List | Media Guide | Quick Facts |
| Social Media | @IlliniMTrack | #Illini | @Illinimtrack | Facebook | YouTube |
| EIU Big Blue Classic | |
|---|---|
| When | Friday, March 31 - Saturday, April 1 |
| Where | O'Brien Field // Charleston, Ill. |
| Meet Information | Schedule | Meet Information | Results |
| Team Information | Meet Notes | Performance List | Media Guide | Quick Facts |
| Social Media | @IlliniMTrack | #Illini | @Illinimtrack | Facebook | YouTube |
Follow the Meets
Texas Relays: The 90th running of the relays will be broadcast on the Longhorn Network and on espn3.com. Coverage begins at 6pm on Thursday, 9:30am on Friday and 1:30pm on Saturday.
Stanford Invite: Record Timing will provide live results throughout the meet on rtspt.com/events/stanford/invite2017/ while FloTrack will provide a stream throughout the meet.
EIU Big Blue Classic: Live results will be available online throughout the meet through the following link: http://sidearmstats.com/eiu/track.
Last Time Out
The Orange and Blue began the 2017 outdoor season with nine event titles at the UNLV Invite on March 17 and 18. David Kendziera and Devin Quinn led the way with two individual titles each, while the 4x100m relay clocked the 11th-fastest time in Division I with a 39.68 performance.
Illini Competitions to Watch
110m Hurdles and 400m Hurdles // Texas Relays // David Kendziera
400H: Prelims - Thursday @ 5pm CT // Finals - Friday at 7:05pm CT
110H: Prelims - Friday @ 9:40am CT // Finals - Saturday at 2:40pm CT
Kendziera enters the weekend with the top 110m hurdles time (13.73) and the 11th-best 400m hurdles time (51.93) in the country. An All-American in the 400m hurdles as a sophomore in 2015, Kendziera qualified and competed at U.S. Olympic Trials last July in the 400m hurdles, finishing 14th overall. During the 2017 indoor season, Kendziera moved into second place on Illinois' all-time 60m hurdles list (7.69m) and placed fourth at NCAA Indoor Championships.
1500m and 5K // Stanford Invite // Jon Davis (1500m) and Jesse Reiser (5K)
1500m - Friday @ 9:34pm CT // 5K - Friday at 11:08pm CT
True freshman Jon Davis will make his Illini debut on Friday night in the Stanford Invite 1500m race after redshirting during the indoor season. In high school, Davis was a nine-time state champion between cross country and track, including three Illinois state titles in both the 1600m and 3200m. Davis finished fifth among all freshmen at NCAA Cross Country Championships last fall for the Illini
Jesse Reiser will follow Davis later on Friday evening in the 5,000m race after competing in the 10,000m race at UNLV two weeks ago. During the indoor season, Reiser placed fourth at Big Ten Championships in the 3,000m and set the eight-fastest time in school history at Iowa's Black & Gold Premier meet. The Illini sophomore reached NCAA West Prelims last season in the 1500m.
Pole Vault // Jacob LaRocca
Final // Saturday @ 12:00 p.m. CT
After missing last season due to injury, the Illini pole vaulter has become a reliable asset for the team in field events this season. Indoors, the redshirt freshman tied for sixth in the pole vault at Big Ten Championships with a personal-record height of 17'0.25" (5.19m) and cleared 5.00m two other times during the indoor campaign. Two weeks ago, LaRocca started his outdoor season by again reaching five meters to win the event.
Up Next
The Fighting Illini will compete at the Illinois State Redbird Invite on Friday, April 7 and Saturday, April 8 in Normal, Ill.
Four Illini Nationally Ranked in Top-25
Four Illini performances rank in the top-25 in the country through two weeks of the outdoor season, led by David Kendziera's NCAA-leading time of 13.73 in the 110m hurdles. Kendziera is also ranked 11th in the 400m hurdles with a time of 51.93 at the UNLV Invite. In sprints, Devin Quinn's 100m season debut time of 10.43 is 10th-best in NCAA Division I, while Mo Maat, Josh Eiker and Joe Haight teamed up with Quinn in the 4x100m relay for the 11th-fastest time (39.68) so far this season.
Kendziera Named Big Ten Track Athlete of the Week
Fighting Illini hurdler David Kendziera was named Big Ten Track Athlete of the Week by the Big Ten office following the opening week of the outdoor season. The redshirt junior won both the 110m hurdles and the 400m hurdles at the UNLV Invite on March 18 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Kendziera's time of 13.73 in the 110m hurdles leads NCAA Division I through the first week of the season.
Sprints and Hurdles Dominate at UNLV Invite
The Fighting Illini men's track and field team began outdoor competition with nine event titles at the UNLV Invite on March 18, including a sweep of the sprints and hurdles events. David Kendziera and Devin Quinn both contributed two event titles to lead the Illini and the 4x100m relay team clocked a sub-40 time in their season debut. The Illini placed first in the eight-team competition, scoring 174 points.
Kendziera, Wells Earn First Team All-America Honors at NCAA Championships
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.
USTFCCCA Tabs Illini 14th Best Program in the Country
The United States Track and Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA) ranked the Illinois men's cross country and track and field program best in the Big Ten and No. 14 overall through the end of the indoor season. The Illini placed 23rd at the 2016 NCAA Cross Country Championships and tied for 30th at last weekend's NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.
Jonathan Wells Wins High Jump Big Ten Title
Illinois junior Jonathan Wells cleared five bars, including his final height of 7'1.5" (2.17m), to win the Big Ten indoor high jump title on Saturday afternoon at the Spire Institute. Wells defeated Indiana contestants Treyton Harris and Paul Galas after Wells cleared the final height on two attempts as opposed to Harris and Galas on three tries. Overall, the Illini recorded 51.5 points across 13 scoring performances and placed ninth in the team competition. 60m hurdler David Kendziera set the second fastest time in school history, 7.69, to place runner-up in the event.
Jonathan Wells Breaks Heptathlon School Record
After redshirting last spring to focus on the multievents, Jonathan Wells broke the Illinois heptathlon school record in his first competition of the season, and then did so again at NCAA Championships. The Illini junior, a redshirt sophomore for the 2017 outdoor season, scored 5,685 points to pass Steve Monte's 5,577 points scored four years ago in 2013. Already a two-time All-American in the high jump, Wells brings versatility to Coach Turk's squad.
For complete coverage of Fighting Illini Men's Track and Field, visit FightingIllini.com, follow the Illini on Twitter (@IlliniMTrack) and Instagram (@IlliniMTrack) and like Fighting Illini Men's Track and Field on Facebook.
