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CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Illinois men's track and field team tallied nine individual titles, scoring 207 points overall to win the Illinois Open in its season debut. In addition to the on-track success, the meet also marked the first as a combined program after the restructuring of the men's and women's programs was announced in November of 2016.

Of the nine event winners, seven came on the track as David Kendziera (60m hurdles), Devin Quinn (60m), Joe Haight (200m), Aaron Harris (400m), Denis O'Callaghan (800m), Garrett Lee (3,000m) and the 4x400m relay team (Eiker, Eiring, Quinn and Haight) each were victorious. The Illini added two more event titles in field events with Cooper Jazo (pole vault) and Parker Deloye (high jump) each claiming top honors.

"I saw exactly what I'd hoped we'd see," said head coach Mike Turk. "It couldn't have been any better. The big thing that I've been talking to them about is how important it is for us to come together as a group, to have a lot of positive energy and get the mindset focused on what we need to do. It's the same for everybody. I'm really pleased with the showing of support for each other, the competitiveness and leaving it all out on the track. We're walking out of here with our heads up, and people really focused on next week and trying to get better."

Illinois top performers from 2017 in the short sprints didn't waste time acclimating themselves to the 2018, as Kendziera, and Quinn each won their respective individual finals, while Quinn also aided the relay victory.

A six-time All-American, including three in 2017, Kendziera competed for the first time since moving to a seven-step approach after spending previous years using eight steps. The redshirt senior clocked 7.92 in prelims, and then followed it up with a 7.80 time to win the final by nearly half a second over Kevin Turner (8.28) of Southern Illinois.

Like Kendziera, Quinn showed well in his 2018 debut as the junior sprinter came within 0.02 of his top time from last season. After timing a prelims-best 6.81 in qualifying, Quinn came back 0.06 seconds faster in the final to cross the line in 6.75. Quinn was one of four Illini scoring in the 60m final, as senior Cole Henderson (6.84), freshman Jason (6.84) and Josh Eiker (6.97) palced second, third and fifth, respectively.

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Joining Kendziera and Quinn in winning top sprint honors was Joe Haight's 22.27 winning time in the 200m dash, and a 50.19 performance from Aaron Harris in the 400m.

The Illini rounded out its sprint success with the final event of the day, taking home the 4x400m relay crown with a winning time of 3:22.93. Sophomore Josh Eiker ran leadoff, followed by juniors Konrad Eiring and Quinn, and anchored by Haight.

Two more victories for the Orange and Blue came from its distance crew, as Garrett Lee and Denis O'Callaghan were each the first to cross the finish line. Lee's victory came in the 3,000m where the Illini senior finished the race in 8:32.63. O'Callaghan's win came in the 800m where his 1:54.82 finishing time edged SIU-Edwardsville's Matthew O'Connor's 1:55.96. The victory was the first for O'Callaghan as an Illini.

In field events, the Fighting Illini received a pair of first-place finishes from Cooper Jazo and Parker Deloye, the former winning the pole vault and the latter taking the high jump.

Jazo's victory is his first as an Illini, edging teammates Curtis Gordon, Jacob LaRocca and Eddie Smoliak for the top spot. Jazo entered the competition at his winning height of 15'5.75" (4.72m), clearing the bar on his first attempt for missing at 15'11.75" (4.87m). Gordon placed second after missing on his first attempt at the previous height (4.57m), while LaRocca missed once at 4.72m and Smoliak needed three attempts to clear.

Like Jazo, Deloye won the high jump competition due to less misses than his competition. Tied with Southern Illinois' Caleb Vogel at 6'6.75" (2.00m), Deloye was victorious after clearing the bar on his second attempt as opposed to Vogel who did so on his third try.

Competing unattached on Saturday, Illini junior All-American Jonathan Wells won the men's long jump title with a personal-best indoor performance. On his third attempt of the afternoon, Wells recorded a jump of 24'8.5" (7.53m) to surpass his previous best indoor mark of 24'5" (7.44m) at NCAA Championships last March.

Other notable personal-best performances from the Illini today came from Zach Dale, clocking a mile time of 4:17.04, Matsen Dziedzic in the weight throw with a mark of 61'8.25" (18.80m) and Mo Maat in the long jump with a leap of 23'5.25" (7.14m).

Seven Illini freshmen made their collegiate debuts on Saturday, as Ayo Abiona, Curtis Gordon, Billy Matzek (unattached), David Oluyadi, Thomas Saggau, Jason Shannon and Vince Shields (unattached) competed for the first time on Saturday.

Up next, the Orange and Blue will go on the road for the first time this season to compete at the Mark Colligan Memorial in Lincoln Nebraska on Saturday, January 20.

Event Champions:

60m Hurdles: David Kendziera, 7.80

60m: Devin Quinn, 6.75

200m: Joe Haight, 22.27

400m: Aaron Harris, 50.19

800m: Denis O'Callaghan, 1:54.82

3,000m: Garrett Lee, 8:32.63

Pole Vault: Cooper Jazo, 15'5.75" (4.72m)

High Jump: Parker Deloye, 6'6.75" (2.00m)

4x400m Relay: Josh Eiker, Konrad Eiring, Devin Quinn and Joe Haight, 3:22.93

Team Standings:

1.ILLINOIS – 207

2.Southern Illinois – 119.5

3.SE Missouri State – 51.5

4.DePaul – 50

5.Bradley – 48

6.SIU Edwardsville – 37

7.Butler – 30

8. St. Louis – 23

9. Eastern Illinois -13

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