David Kendziera
Men's Track & Field
Graduate Student | Mount Prospect, IL
Human Resources Management
May 4-June 11, 2018
One of the best hurdlers in Illinois men's track program history, David Kendziera concluded his Illini career with a pair of medals, silver in the 110m hurdles and bronze in the 400m hurdles, on Friday evening in front of 11,644 fans at Historic Hayward Field. Kendziera placed second in the high hurdles with a time of 13.43 and took third in the 400m hurdles with a new school record time of 48.42. The 14 team points by Kendziera placed the Illini in a tie for 20th in the final team standings. Kendziera scored the most points by a Division I hurdler at a single NCAA Championships in 39 years, and just the third to score that many points since the collegiate track made the switch from 220-yard intermediate hurdles to 400-meter hurdles. The last to score that many points was Auburn's James Walker (16 points) who won the intermediate hurdles and took third in the high hurdles in 1979. Oregon's Jerry Tarr owns the modern hurdle record with 20 points at the 1962 Championships. Kendziera topped former Illini George Walker for the program lead, who tallied 13 points in 1948 by winning the 400m hurdles and placing sixth in the 110m hurdles. The two hurdle times not only put Kendziera on the podium at NCAA Championships, they also rank among the best in the United States and in the world this season. The 48.42 time in the 400m hurdles is the second fastest in the U.S. and ranks seventh in the world (THE WHOLE WORLD!!!!!). In the 110m hurdles, the 13.43 time ranks fourth in the U.S. and 17th internationally. Concluding his career with 10 All-America honors, eight First Team recognitions, Kendziera scored 14 points for the Illini on Friday, tied for the third most at the meet behind Denzel Comenentia's (Georgia) 20 points, Andrew Ewers (Florida State) with 15 and tied with Odaine Lewis (Texas Tech) who also had 14. The 14 points were the most by a single Illini since Andrew Riley tallied 20 in 2012 when he the 110m hurdles and 100m dash NCAA titles.
