Kendziera, Quinn Qualify For Eugene on Day Two of Prelims

Kendziera, Quinn and Wells in Saturday quarterfinals

Men's Track & Field May 25, 2018

Kendziera, Quinn Qualify For Eugene on Day Two of Prelims

Kendziera, Quinn and Wells in Saturday quarterfinals

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – The Fighting Illini men's track and field team punched its second and third tickets to Eugene on Friday at NCAA West Prelims, as redshirt senior David Kendziera advanced in the 400m hurdles and junior Devin Quinn qualified in the 100m. The two track athletes join redshirt junior Jonathan Wells who advanced in the long jump on Thursday.

In addition to clinching bids to Eugene, Oregon in two weeks, Kendziera, Wells and Quinn also took a step closer to advancing in a second event as both qualified for another quarterfinal on Saturday. Kendziera and Wells will compete in the 110m hurdle quarterfinal on Saturday at 9:05 p.m. central time with Quinn following in the 200m quarterfinal at 9:35 p.m.

"Today was the most difficult day of the weekend, just because we had both [hurdle] races," said Kendziera of his two races on Friday. "I thought yesterday would be pretty easy, and I knew how I would feel after the race. Going into today, I just wanted to make sure I did everything I could. Coach Wheatley and I talked about just wanting to survive and advance just with how Big Ten [Championships] went.

Already a seven-time All-American, Kendziera will head back to Eugene, Oregon for the second straight year. After timing 50.42 in the first round on Thursday, placing runner-up in his heat, Kendziera lowered his time in the quarterfinal round to 50.30 and earning the third automatic bid out of heat two. Overall, Kendziera finished eighth among qualifiers.

The 400m hurdler qualification for Kendziera makes it five straight years, and nine of the last 10, that an Illini hurdler has advanced to NCAA Finals. During the previous nine years, the Illini have eight place-winners including an NCAA title by Andrew Riley in 2010 and 2012.

Devin Quinn advanced to Eugene for the first time in his career as the Punta Gorda, Florida junior earned the top time qualifier in the 100m with a time of 10.28. Racing in the final of three heats, Quinn's 10.28 time ranked sixth overall in the quarterfinal.

"It feels good," said Quinn on qualifying for NCAA Finals for the first time. "It's something I wanted to accomplish sooner, but better now than never. I struggled a little bit the past few weeks, leading up to Big Tens and now regionals with my calf, so that's coming along pretty well. I don't feel like I'm at where I was after Mt. SAC [Relays], but I am progressing as I should."

With four of the top-six times coming out of heat four, Quinn's quick start out of the blocks proved important in earning the top at-large time.

"It was probably one of the better block starts I've ever had," Quinn said of his 100m race. "The block start acceleration overall was phenomenal. Coming out really strong next to Elijah Hall, big name, and other guys in that heat so it felt very balanced, very under control."

Quinn becomes the first Illini 100m sprinter to reach NCAA Finals since Riley did so in 2012 as part of his historic 100m-110m hurdle double NCAA title.

Paired with each of their quarterfinal races that clinched NCAA Finals bids, Quinn and Kendziera, as well as hurdle teammate Jonathan Wells, advanced to another quarterfinal on Saturday, Quinn in the 200m and Kendziera and Wells in the 110m hurdles.

After advancing to his first NCAA Finals in the 100m, Quinn returned at the end of the evening to qualify for the 200m quarterfinal on Saturday with the top time in heat four. Timing 20.67, Quinn ranked fifth among the 24 qualifying times.

Prior to the 400m hurdle quarterfinal, Kendziera set the top time in the 110m hurdle first round with a time of 13.60 that won heat six by 0.32 seconds, and edged Houston's Amere Lattin by three thousandths of a second. Redshirt junior teammate Jonathan Wells joined Kendziera is moving on to Saturday with a time of 14.14 that led all at-large qualifiers.

On Thursday, Jonathan Wells advanced to NCAA Finals in the long jump with a leap of 25'3.5" (7.71m) on his third attempt. By punching his ticket to Eugene, Wells becomes the first Illini to reach Finals since Nick Brown in 2007.

Illinois' final day of the NCAA West Prelims begins at 6 p.m. central time on Saturday with the men's high jump, featuring Big Ten champion Jonathan Wells. On the track, David Kendziera (110m hurdles), Wells (110m hurdles), Devin Quinn (200m) and Dan Lathrop will compete individually along with both the 4x100m and 4x400m relays.

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Illini Notes:

The Illini have advanced three athletes to NCAA Finals so far: Jonathan Wells (long jump), Devin Quinn (100m) and David Kendziera (400m hurdles)
For the fifth straight year, and nine of the last 10, the Illini are sending a hurdler to Eugene, Oregon. David Kendziera will be making his third appearance overall and second straight. Kendziera earned First Team All-America honors in both hurdle events in 2017
Devin Quinn becomes the first Illini 100m sprinter to reach NCAA Finals since Andrew Riley won the 100m NCAA title in 2012.
Kendziera (110m hurdles) and Quinn (200m) will look to qualify in a second event on Saturday
Jonathan Wells becomes the first Illini to advance to NCAA Finals in the long jump since Nick Brown advanced in 2007 in both the long jump and triple jump
Wells is advancing to his second career NCAA Outdoor Finals after earning Second Team All-America honors last season. Wells also qualified for NCAA Indoor Championships in 2015 and 2016.
Matsen Dziedzic improved his No. 2 Illinois all-time hammer throw to 209'4" (63.80m) on Thursday in his final attempt of competition