DES MOINES, Iowa – Illinois men's track and field advanced both sprint relays on Friday at the 109th annual Drake Relays to Saturday afternoon finals.
Winners of four the first five Hy-Vee Cup trophies, the Illini men timed the fastest 4x100m relay of qualifying, while the 4x400m relay placed second overall with its best time of the season.
Posting a time of 40.16 in heat two of 4x100m qualifying, the Illini beat out Big Ten foes Iowa (40.16), Ohio State (40.47) and Purdue (40.23) who swept qualifying spots two through four.
The defending Big Ten champs in the event, Illinois knocked off Iowa and Ohio State who both entered the weekend ahead of the Illini in the Big Ten event rankings. Iowa won last year's 4x100m relay final, while the Illini beat the Hawkeyes at 2017 Big Ten Championships.
The Illini carried the success into the other sprint relay, the 4x400m, where the Orange and Blue shaved two seconds off their previous top time of the year, clocking 3:09.00, to take second to Iowa in heat two. After junior Joe Haight, redshirt freshman Aaron Harris carried the stick for the first 800 meters, redshirt seniors Kenneth Allen and David Kendziera brought the relay home with splits of 46.91 and 46.56, respectively.
Outside of the two relays, Illinois contested the high jump, triple jump, shot put, 110m hurdles and 100m dash. Among the performances, Parker Deloye placed sixth in the high jump, clearing 6'8" (2.03m), while Cole Henderson timed 10.56 in the 100m.
Up next, the Hy-Vee Cup trophy will be on the line on Saturday afternoon as the Illini contest the finals of the 4x100m and 4x400m relays, as well as the distance medley and sprint medley relays.
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