CHAMPAIGN, ILL. – Illinois track and field puts their best up against the top individuals and teams in the conference at Big Ten Indoor Championships. Held at the Spire Institute in Geneva, Ohio, the meet begins Friday morning and continues through Saturday afternoon.
Meet Information
Venue Information
Spire Institute features an eight-lane track to go along with two UCS high jump and pole vault pits, two horizontal jump pits and two shot put circles. The track is a 300-meter Benyon 2000 Surface with a 10 lane 150 meter front and back stretch. Offering plenty of seating for athletes, media and spectators.
Ticket Information
Entry into the 2018 Big Ten Indoor Championships are sold as all-session passes that cover both days of the meet. Big Ten students, seniors and children are $8 per person, while all-session adult tickets are $20.
Watch Live on BTN Plus and FloTrack
Live coverage of the Big Ten Indoor Championships will be provided via stream on BTN Plus and FloTrack on Friday and Saturday. A subscription to either platform is required. Additionally, live results for the meet will be available through Lightning Timing by going to lightningtiming.com. Fans can also follow @IlliniMTrack and @IlliniWTrack on Twitter for updates during the meet. A full recap of the meet will be posted on fightingillini.com following the conclusion of each day.
A Glance at the Competition
On the men's side, the Illini are one of five teams ranked in the top-30 nationally, according to the last USTFCCCA poll. Checking in at a season-best No. 26 ranking, the Illini are just a few spots behind No. 22 Michigan and No. 19 Ohio State. Penn State and Indiana lead the conference at No. 14 and No. 15, respectively. For the women, No. 10 Minnesota has been one of the top ranked teams this indoor season, followed by No. 16 Purdue, No. 22 Wisconsin and No. 23 Michigan in the top-25.
Illini to Watch
60m Hurdles // David Kendziera and Jayla Stewart
Trials: Fri., Feb. 23 @ 2:30pm CT // Finals: Sat., Feb. 24 @ 1:40pm CT
Two Illini who are no stranger to the Big Ten meet, senior David Kendziera and junior Jayla Stewart will both look to put points on the board for the Illini in the event. The men's runner-up a year ago, and All-American, Kendziera will look to win his first Big Ten title in the event. Kendziera's best time in the event came at Spire in last year's final where he clocked 7.69. Like Kendziera, Stewart returns to the track that she set her personal record on, an 8.26 performance as a sophomore, and owns an 8.33 season-best heading into weekend.
Distance // Jon Davis
3K Final: Fri., Feb. 23 @ 5:10 p.m. CT // 5K Final: Sat., Feb. 24 @ 3:05 p.m. CT
Jon Davis will be competing in his first indoor conference meet after redshirting the indoor season last year. Davis enters with a 3K time that set the Illinois school record, 7:49.92, by 11 seconds two weeks ago at Iowa State. The 5K will be the first this season for Davis after he was the only freshman to earn All-America honors in the event last outdoor season.
Middle Distance // Nicole Choquette (800m) and Rebecca Craddock (Mile)
800m Trials: Fri., Feb. 23 @ 1:50 p.m. CT // 800m Final: Sat., Feb. 24 @ 1:20 p.m. CT
Mile Trials: Fri., Feb. 23 @ 11:40 a.m. CT // Mile Final: 12:20 p.m. CT
A seasoned veteran and a newcomer to the Big Ten meet, senior Nicole Choquette and freshman Rebecca Craddock will lead Illinois' distance team at this year's indoor meet. Owning Big Ten title in the 600m and a runner-up finish in the 800m during her career, Choquette returns to the indoor meet after redshirting during last year's season. Choquette's PR of 2:05.90 came at Spire in 2016. Craddock will lead Illinois' mile entries, owning a 4:48.92 mark that sits just outside the program's all-time list. Running it for a second time since her debut at Rod McCravy, Craddock will seek to drop that time on the conference stage.
Sprints // Devin Quinn
60m Trials: Fri., Feb. 23 @ 1:30 p.m. CT // 60m Final: Sat., Feb. 24 @ 1:10 p.m. CT
200m Trials: Fri., Feb. 23 @ 4:25 p.m. CT // 200m Final: 2:30 p.m. CT
Illinois' top sprinter enters among the best in the conference in both short sprint events, setting a new PR earlier this season in the 60m. The 6.69 lifetime best at Nebraska for Quinn puts him in the thick of things along with a trio of sprinters from Ohio State. In the 200m, Quinn returns to the track that he set his PR on a year ago. If he can shave a couple more hundredths off his time, the Illini junior will become just the third Illini ever to set a sub-21 second time in the event.
Pole Vault
Women's Final: Fri., Feb. 23 @ 10:30 a.m. CT
Men's Final: Fri., Feb. 23 @ 2:30 p.m. CT
The Orange and Blue will enter a number of vaulters capable of scoring this weekend, led by redshirt junior Sara McKeeman and redshirt sophomore Jacob LaRocca. McKeeman missed last year's competition due to injury, but is back with a good chance to score for the first time at the meet. In 2016, McKeeman advanced past four meters for the first time. Likewise, LaRocca enters after tying for sixth last season when he set a personal record in the event. This season, LaRocca enters after posting his second best height in the event, 16'10.75" (5.15m) last weekend. Sophomores Chisom Nwoko and Cooper Jazo will add a third and fourth potential scorer, Jazo reaching five meters for the first time this past Saturday.
Throws // Matsen Dziedzic and Michael Hyc
SP Finals: Fri., Feb. 23 @ 4:30 p.m. CT
WT Finals: Sat., Feb. 24 @ 12:45 p.m. CT
A pair of seniors entering their final indoor conference meet, Dziedzic and Hyc have had breakthroughs in recent weeks that puts them in contention to add points to the team score at Big Tens. The biggest breakthrough came at Iowa State where Dziedzic added more than two feet to his weight throw and Hyc also set a personal record in the event. Both bringing plenty of experience competing at the Big Ten meet, Hyc is looking to score at his second straight indoor competition after taking sixth in both the weight throw and shot put in 2017.
Last Time Out
Illinois enters the Big Ten meet coming off seven individual titles at the Orange and Blue Open. On the men's side, the Illini received field event victories in the pole vault (Jacob LaRocca), weight throw (Matsen Dziedzic) and shot put (Michael Hyc) to go along with wins in the 800m (Trevor Kuehr) and 3,000m (Zack Smith). The Illinois women added in a win in the 600m (Miranda Marry) and the triple jump (Tarryn Mays).
FloTrack Tabs Illini No. 16, USTFCCCA No. 26
Entering the final week of the indoor regular season, FloTrack has pegged Illinois at No. 16 in their NCAA Indoor Championships rankings, tied with Florida State. The weekly rankings project 60m hurdles David Kendziera as fourth, while Jon Davis ranks in the top eight of both the mile and 3K. Illinois is the second highest Big Ten team listed behind No. 10 Michigan. The Illini also rank 26th in the USTFCCCA weekly poll, up two spots from No. 28 on Feb. 12.
Next Up
The top-16 nationally ranked performances in each event will qualify for NCAA Indoor Championships, March 9-10, in College Station, Texas. Illinois' 2018 outdoor season begins two weeks following the indoor NCAA meet at Southern Illinois on Friday, March 23 and Saturday, March 24.
