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DES MOINES, Iowa – Illinois men's track advanced two relays to Saturday's finals round, and scored points in the 4x800m relay on Friday at the 108th annual Drake Relays. The 4x100m relay won their heat of the relay and advanced with a time of 41.06, while the 4x400m relay team clocked 3:10.53 to advance.
The Illini took their first step towards defending their four-time Hy-Vee Cup titles with four points in the 4x800m relay. The quartet of Jon Davis, Tony Zea, Luke Brahm and Konrad Eiring combined to finish in 7:26.76, placing fifth. Brahm and Eiring both closed hard for the Orange and Blue, clocking 1:50.86 and 1:50.00, respectively, in the final 1600 meters.
After the Illini 4x100m relay was initially disqualified for passing the baton outside the legal zone, a video review overturned the ruling and advanced Illinois' 41.06 relay time to Saturday's event final. Using the same lineup for the second straight meet for the first time all year, the Orange and Blue finished third overall in qualifying and will be joined by Big Ten foes Iowa, Ohio State and Purdue in the final.
"It wasn't our best race of the year. We were probably due for a race that wasn't clean. We've been really good with multiple people all year, but today our passes were shaky at best. The good news is we walked away with our heat and I think showed we have the legs to mix it up."
Later in the afternoon, the 4x400m relay squad of Joe Haight, Kenneth Allen, Doug Wilson and David Kendziera also advanced to tomorrow's round of finals. Placing fifth overall, the unit clocked its best time of the season with a 3:10.53 showing that placed second in heat three and fourth overall.
"It was a solid run and was a season-best time, Turk said. "I doubt many other teams had season-bests in these conditions. I think we can improve in tomorrow's final."
Two Illini finished among the top five in field events. Aaron Wilks measured 194'9" (59.37m) to place runner-up in the javelin, and Jacob LaRocca took fifth place in the pole vault with a height of 16'6.75" (5.05m). For LaRocca, it was the third time this outdoor season the redshirt freshman has cleared five meters.
"Aaron [Wilks] had very difficult conditions for the javelin," Turk said of the thrower. "He just wanted to compete his best with a reasonable effort and I think he managed things really well. He passed in the final rounds because of a little accumulated soreness from throwing the past six meets in a row."
The Illini opted not to contest the 4x200m relay after weather left meet conditions less than ideal.
"We are competing well under the conditions, but we had to take a look at what's best for out team and season, and running the 4x200m is just an unnecessary risk," explained Coach Turk.
On Thursday, the Illini began the 108th annual Drake Relays with the distance carnival on Thursday evening, led by a personal-best 5,000m race from Jesse Reiser (13:54.66) and outdoor personal-best time from Dylan Lafond (13:56.61). The two times rank fourth and seventh, respectively, in Illini history and give the Illini three sub-14:00 performances this season. Jon Davis was the first finish in less than 14 minutes, clocking the second-fastest time in school history (13:49.55) at the Mt. SAC Relays.
The Orange and Blue conclude action at Drake Relays tomorrow with two medley relays, the finals of the 4x100m and 4x400m relays and six other events between the track and field events. Competition begins at 9:50 a.m. central time with the 3,000m steeplechase.
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