TORRANCE, Calif. – Illinois long jumper Jonathan Wells set the third furthest long jump in program history at the Mt. SAC Relays on Friday afternoon, as redshirt junior marked 25'10.25" (7.88m), as the Fighting Illini wrapped up day two of its three-meet trip to southern California.
Results: Mt. SAC | Bryan Clay | Beach Invite
In addition to the Mt. SAC Relays, the Illini also competed at the Bryan Clay Invite and Beach Invite with the Illini setting season-best performances in the pole vault and 1500m.
A high-level competition that featured five jumpers marking 25 feet or better, Wells' fifth jump of the day proved to best the rest of the field. Ranking fifth in the field heading into the fifth jump of his series, Wells added four inches to his personal record at the U.S. Indoor Track and Field Championships in February (25'6") to take over the lead from Oregon's Tristan James (25'4").
With the jump, Wells moved up both the NCAA rankings and Illinois' all-time rankings. The 25'10.25" (7.88m) leap ranks 10th nationally entering Friday's competition, and moves him into third in program history. Moving up from seventh all-time, Wells passes former Illini Joe Knuffman (25'8"), Babatunde Ridley (25'7"), Deryck Taylor (25'6") and Pierre Busch (25'1.75").
The horizontal jumps wasn't the All-Americans only event of the day, as Wells also timed 14.15 in the 110m hurdles to take third place.
Wells wasn't the only Illini to have success in the field on Friday, as pole vaulter Jacob LaRocca set a new outdoor personal record height and thrower Matsen Dziedzic won his flight of the hammer throw.
After clearing a season-best 16'8" (5.08m) at home last weekend, LaRocca added four inches at the Beach Invite, soaring over 17'0.25" (5.20m) to win the competition. LaRocca is just the sixth vaulter in the Big Ten to clear 17 feet this season, while teammate Cooper Jazo took runner-up with a height of 16'6.75" (5.05m).
The Illini continued the momentum over in the hammer throw at the Beach Invite, as Dziedzic marked 199'5" (60.79m) to finish first in flight five. Competing in flight six, senior Michael Hyc heaved 194'3" (59.22m).
Distance coach Jake Stewart's 1500m runners concluded Friday's action with all three runners setting season-best times, including a personal record. Graduate student Luke Brahm led off in section eight of the event, taking third place with a season-best time of 3:46.98 that fell just shy of his 3:46.73 personal record. Garrett Lee followed suit with a 3:47.93 season-best performance in heat 10, and then redshirt junior Denis O'Callaghan set a new 3:49.95 personal record in heat 13.
On Thursday night at the Bryan Clay Invite, redshirt junior Dan Lathrop timed the fastest 5,000-meter race of his career. Lathrop finished the 3.1 mile race in 14:02.76, 10 seconds better than his time from last year's meet.
Illinois will conclude its weekend on Saturday with action at both Mt. SAC Relays and Beach Invite. Competition for the Orange and Blue will begin at 1 p.m. central time, 11 a.m. pacific.
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