CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Postseason competition begins this weekend for Illinois track and field on the campus of Indiana University with the 2018 Big Ten Outdoor Championships. Held at the Robert C. Haugh Complex, the meet will begin on Friday, May 11 and conclude on Sunday, May 13.
Meet Information
Coverage of Big Ten Championships
A live stream of the Championships will be available through FloTrack, while BTN Plus will also stream the meet. A tape delay coverage of the meet will be broadcast on Big Ten Network on Wednesday, May 16 at 6 p.m. central time.
Follow The Meet
Live results will be available throughout the meet at pttiming.com/events/87930616. Additionally, fans and media can follow @IlliniMTrack and @IlliniWTrack on Twitter for updates throughout the meet. A full recap will be posted on fightingillini.com following the completion of the meet.
Illini History at Big Ten Outdoor Championships
With 35 Big Ten Outdoor Championships between men and women, the Illini track and field program has been a regular among the best in the conference throughout its history with 291 combined individual and relay titles. Last season, David Kendziera won the men's program's 12th 400m hurdle title, timing 50.88 in the final while the 4x100m relay added its fourth relay title in seven seasons. Following the end of the season, Kendziera was named the 2017 Big Ten Track Athlete of the Year.
A Look at the Competition
Three Big Ten men's programs enter the weekend ranked by USTFCCCA, led by Illinois' No. 19, while No. 10 Minnesota and No. 11 Purdue headline the women's rankings. Last year, Penn State won the men's title on their home turf behind 117 points, while Purdue racked up 133 points to win the women's championship.
Title Defense
All-American hurdler David Kendziera and the men's 4x100m relay will be looking to defend titles they claimed in Happy Valley last year. Kendziera won his first Big Ten title by timing 50.88 in the men's 400m hurdle final, while the men's relay its fourth event title in seven seasons. Leading the Big Ten in both the 110m hurdles and 400m hurdles, Kendziera has a chance to become the just the fourth athlete in Big Ten history to win both events at the same Championships, and the first to do so since former Illini Sherman Armstrong in 2000.
Illini Notes
Last Time Out
Both the Illinois men and women finished with 18 points in the HyVee Cup standings at Drake Relays, the women's team placing third and the men tying for third. On the women's side, the sprint medley relay set the third-best time in school history (3:48.49) to place second, while the Illini men took third in the 4x100m, 4x400m and sprint medley relays. Outside of relay competition, hurdler David Kendziera won the 400m hurdles going away, winning by 0.58 seconds with a time of 49.94.
Up Next
Illinois athletes that finish in the top-50 of the West qualifying rankings will advance to NCAA West Prelims in Sacramento, California. The preliminary meet will be held May 25-26.
Illini Ranked For Third Straight Week
The Illinois men's squad enters the postseason with a No. 19 ranking according USTFCCCCA. The Illini first entered the rankings back on April 23, moving up to No. 17 in the county. The No. 17 ranking was the highest since the 2016 season, while the No. 19 spot leads the Big Ten conference ahead of No. 21 Nebraska and No. 25 Penn State are also ranked, checking in at No. 21 and No. 25.
Kendziera and Quinn Lead Big Ten Entering Championships
Mainstays atop the Big Ten performance lists this outdoor season, redshirt senior David Kendziera and junior Devin Quinn both enter the conference meet with the top times in their respective events. Kendziera paces the conference in both the 110m hurdles (13.46) and 400m hurdles (49.39), while Quinn's 10.11 100m personal record at the Illinois Twilight that set a new facility record is also tops in the Big Ten. Quinn also ranks second in the 200m, while redshirt junior Jonathan Wells holds the second best long jump in the conference at 25'10.25" (7.88m).
22 Illini Performances Rank Among West Top-50
The Fighting Illini currently have 22 performances, 19 individuals and three relays that would currently qualify for NCAA West Prelims in Sacramento, California. Led by hurdler David Kendziera's West-leading hurdle times, the Illini have five performances that rank in the top-10 in the region: Kendziera (110H, 400H), Devin Quinn (100m, 200m) and Jonathan Wells (long jump). Well's high jump and 110m hurdle performances rank just outside the top-10 at No. 13 and No. 14, respectively. Sara McKeeman's No. 21 ranking in the pole vault leads the Illini women's west qualifying rankings.
Illini Win Big Ten Track Honor of the Week Five Straight Weeks
For five straight weeks, April 4-May 2, the Big Ten conference named an Illinois athlete Big Ten Track Athlete of the Week, as David Kendziera won the honor three times and Devin Quinn twice. The Illini became the first school to win the Big Ten weekly track award in five consecutive weeks since the conference began handing out honors in 1990. Kendziera's three awards in a single season is the most since Purdue's Chukwuebuka Enekwechi won Big Ten Field Athlete of the Week four times during the 2014 indoor season.
For complete coverage of Fighting Illini Track and Field, visit fightingillini.com, follow the Illini on Twitter (@IlliniMTrack and @IlliniWTrack) and Instagram (@IlliniMTrack and @IlliniWTrack) and like Fighting Illini Men's Track and Field and Fighting Illini Women's Track on Facebook.
