David Kendziera 110m Hurdles NCAA Finals

Men's Track & Field June 9, 2018

David Kendziera Wins Silver, Bronze at NCAA Track Championships

Illini senior scores more hurdle points in 39 years

Men's Track & Field June 9, 2018

David Kendziera Wins Silver, Bronze at NCAA Track Championships

Illini senior scores more hurdle points in 39 years

EUGENE, Ore. – 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 20^th 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.

"Dave is an incredible person and an amazing competitor," head coach Mike Turk said of his senior hurdler. "It makes you happy when you see guys like him that do things the right way. I'm always so proud of the way he treats people, the way he approaches his work and always trying to grow and get better. The kind of performance he had tonight is one he's trained for so long and I'm so happy for him."

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. In the 110m hurdles, the 13.43 time ranks fourth in the U.S. and 17^th internationally.

"He's what our program is about," continued Turk. "We're not about going out and trying to recruit international athletes or buy the beset kids we can. We try to find the athletes that are talent, but more about who they are and how they're going to go about their business. At the end of the day, [David] is a poster-guy for development program. Anybody that's walking around that's a hurdler in high school, I can't understand why they wouldn't want to come and run for us, and that's what David means to us."

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.

"I wasn't going to leave anything out there that I didn't think I couldn't do," said Kendziera following his two races. "I was ready to break barriers and just went out there guns blazing. "I had a huge personal best in the 400m hurdles, school record as well. It's really just something I've been working towards. Today was the day to do it. I had an unbelievable field to run with it, and I just took the opportunity. Being second and third is an honor, a blessing. I thank my coaches, my trainers and everyone for getting me here."

Now a two-time medalist in the high hurdles, Kendziera missed the program's first NCAA title since Andrew Riley won both the 110m hurdles and 100m dash in 2012 by a hundredth of a second. Closing hard on defending champion Grant Holloway (Florida) over the final hurdles and through the finish line, Kendziera timed 13.43 to Holloway's 13.42. Placing second, Kendziera edged LSU's Damion Thomas (13.45) at the line for the second time in three days. With the lean to beat Thomas, Kendziera improved upon his third-place finish from a year ago for his best finish at a NCAA Championships meet, indoor or outdoor.

"I thought I had it. I was staring at the scoreboard waiting to see what came up," Kendziera said of the finish. ["Grant Holloway] ran a heck of a race, had a great start, everything, and held it through to be first across the finish line so I have to give it to him."

Kendziera and Riley are the only Illini to ever medal in the event, Riley winning in 2010 and 2012, and taking runner-up in 2011. Between the two high hurdlers, the Illini have tallied 46 points in the 110m hurdles since 2009, ranking second in the nation behind Florida's 62 points.

The only hurdler to reach the final in both hurdle events, Kendziera returned to the track 45 minutes after the silver medal for the 400m hurdle final where he promptly set a new school record with a time of 48.42 that improved his personal record by 0.58 seconds. The second medal of the evening and the second 400m hurdles medal of his career, Kendziera was beaten by a new NCAA record time of 47.02 by USC's Rai Benjamin and North Carolina's Kenny Selmon (48.12).

"I knew everyone was going to go out fast," explained Kendziera. "I had a different race pattern, race strategy, for it. I tried to get out a little harder, a little faster, at the start. I was able to hold it through, and then, going into the last hurdle, I knew it was going to be difficult so I made sure to take off with my lead leg and just brought it in."

The new school record supplants former Illini Sherman Armstrong who timed 48.61 in 2000.

"The big bonus was grabbing that school record," said Coach Turk. "We've been looking for that for a long time; I know he's been looking for that for a long time. The right race and all the conditions lined up really well for him, and he took advantage of it."

Now a 10-time All-American, Kendziera owns eight First Team honors which ranks as the most by an Illini since Andrew Riley collected 11 such honors from 2009-12.

With Friday's performances, Kendziera continued to add to the Illinois' decade of dominance in the hurdles at NCAA Outdoor Championships. Now with seven medals since 2009, Illinois ties Florida with a NCAA-leading seven medals in the last 10 years. Likewise, the 16 NCAA Finals qualifying appearances rank third behind Nebraska (23) and Florida (17).

With the conclusion of Kendziera's career, the Mount Prospect, Illinois native put his name across Illini history and record books. Now holding the 400m hurdles school record, and also a part of the school's indoor 4x400m relay record, Kendziera also ranks second in both the 110m hurdles and 60m hurdles. The 2017 400m hurdles Big Ten Champion, Kendziera was named the Big Ten Track Athlete of the Year. A three-time All-American as a senior, Kendziera won three Big Ten Track Athletes of the Week and concluded the season with a pair of medals in Eugene.

"Going back to when he was in high school, we weren't really sure of what he was," said Turk of Kendziera. "At one point we thought he was a 400m hurdler, and at one point we thought he'd be a high hurdler, and at one point we didn't think he was going to be a high hurdler, You have to give some credit to Coach Wheatley because it takes a special coach to be able to manage an athlete through both of those events, and he's proven time and time again that he can do that.

"It's been, honestly, an honor just from the beginning where I started to my last race being my last one," Kendziera said of his time at Illinois. "I get kind of emotional thinking about it, but it's been an honor."

Jonathan Wells also competed on Friday night, clearing 6'9.75" (2.08m) on his first attempt at the opening height and earning Second Team All-America honor. However, the Big Ten Champion was unable to clear the next height, 6'11.75" (2.13m) and finished tied for 13th. Wells also took Second Team honors in the long jump on Wednesday.

"It wasn't [Jonathan Wells'] day," said Turk of the All-American jumper. "You can have a 90-percent free-throw shooter, and sometimes you get to the end of the game and you miss one. Sometimes, unfortunately, that's the way competition goes. I thought he was really focused, felt good and looked good. Somewhere between warm-ups and when he got to that second bar his rhythm was off and he couldn't quite dial it back in. It's unfortunate that it happened, but I know that he'll be back."

On Wednesday night, five Illini earned Second Team All-America honors: Jonathan Wells (long jump), Devin Quinn (4x100m relay, 200m), Joe Haight (4x100m relay), Mo Maat (4x100m relay) and Cole Henderson (4x100m relay).

With Friday's finals concluding the 2018 collegiate track season, three of the Illini that competed in Eugene will turn their attention to U.S. Track and Field Championships in Des Moines, Iowa in two weeks. Held at the same site as Drake Relays, the June 21-24 competition will feature Illini qualifiers David Kendziera (110H, 400H), Jonathan Wells (high jump) and Devin Quinn (100m, 200m). The meet will be broadcast live on NBC, NBC Sports Network and online through NBC Sports Gold.

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.

Illini NCAA Finals Notes

David Kendziera scored 14 team points for the Illini, tied for third most among any male athlete at the 2018 Championships
The 14 points by Kendziera is the most by a hurdler at single Championships since James Walker (Auburn) scored 16 in 1979. Oregon's Jerry Tarr holds the record with 20 points in 1962.
David Kendziera became the first Illini since Andrew Riley in 2012 to medal in two events at the same NCAA Championships
Kendziera became just the second Illini to finish runner-up or better in the 110m hurdles, joining two-time champion and 2011 runner-up Andrew Riley
Kendziera set a new school record of 48.42 in the 400m hurdles, passing Sherman Armstrong's 48.61 time in 2000.
The two medals are the fourth for Kendziera after taking third in the 110m hurdles in 2017 and third in the 400m hurdles in 2015
The two All-America honors this week give Kendziera 10 in his career: three in the 110m hurdles, three in the 400m hurdles, two in the 60m hurdles (indoors) and two in the 4x400m relay (indoor, outdoor)
The seventh and eighth career First Team All-America honors, Kendziera has the most by an Illini since Andrew Riley collected 11 from 2009-12.
Competing in both hurdle finals on Friday, Kendziera gives the Illini eight finalists in the hurdles since 2009. In the time span, the Illini have won seven medals, including two NCAA titles, tying Florida for the NCAA lead.
The Illini have combined to score 46 points in the 110m hurdles since 2009, second only to Florida (62) in that time frame.
Kendziera was the only hurdler at 2018 NCAA Championships to advance to the NCAA Final in both the 110m hurdles and 400m hurdles
On Wednesday, Illinois 4x100m relay of Mo Maat, Cole Henderson, Joe Haight and Devin Quinn timed the second-fastest time in school history, clocking 38.99. The fastest time was set in 2011 when Andrew Riley, Azeez Shogbuyi, Josh Zinzer and Stanley Azie timed 38.72.
Five Illini earned Second Team All-America honors: Jonathan Wells (long jump, high jump), Devin Quinn (4x100m relay, 200m), Joe Haight (4x100m relay), Mo Maat (4x100m relay) and Cole Henderson (4x100m relay)
Jonathan Wells was the first Illini to compete in two field events at the same NCAA Outdoor Championships since Nick Brown contested both the long jump and triple jump in 2007.