Full Results

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - No. 20 Fighting Illini men's track & field took first place in their seasoning opening meet in front of the home crowd at the Illini Open on Saturday at the UI Armory. The Illini finished with the top score out of five teams with a final result of 148. The Illini were propelled to victory by five individual titles as well as a victory in the 4x400m relay. The host team dominated the Orange Session of the meet, with freshman Bret Danis winning the title in the 60m Hurdles, followed by Senior Devin Quinn breezing to victory in the 60m dash. Senior Billy Magnesen then won the 1-mile race, and Jon Davis took the title in the 800m run, before the 4x400m team of freshman Jaden Jackson, junior Joe Haight, senior Devin Quinn and junior Konrad Eiring won their race. Earlier in the day during the field events, redshirt junior Jacob LaRocca won the title in the pole vault. 

"I think it was a really good opener for us," said head track & field coach Mike Turk. "I'm always excited to open the season, and this year was really special because of the number of young athletes we have, the number of people making their first venture into collegiate track and field with the freshmen and the redshirt freshmen. It's really exciting and I think they did a great job of competing very well, they were very focused. I think there was some good enthusiasm and performances came along right as well so overall a really good day."

Freshman Bret Danis began his collegiate track career in style by earning the title in the 60m Hurdles finals. He won the competition by achieving a time of 8.09. Also placing in the top-five in the 60m Hurdles in his debut was freshman Jaden Jackson, who placed fourth with a time of 8.50.

The next event to follow was the 60m dash, where senior Devin Quinn stole the show. He cruised to the title by clocking a time of 6.65 in the final, good for a new personal-best. Sophomore Jason Shannon also landed in the top-three, finishing the dash in 6.91 seconds. 

In the 1-Mile race, senior Billy Magnesen surged to victory with a time of 4:15.15, a new personal-record for Hinsdale, Ill native. Also logging a top-five mile race finish was redshirt junior Zach Dale, who recorded a finish time of 4:19.39. 

Coming off an All-American Indoor season in 2018, sophomore Jon Davis picked up on the track right where he left off by setting a new PR and winning the 800m run with a time of 1:52.90. RIght behind him finishing in second place was senior Jesse Reiser who finished with a time of 1:55.25. Immediately after in third was redshirt senior Denis O'Callaghan clocking a 1:55.42 finish time. 

The team's final victory in the Orange session came in the 4x400m relay, where the team of Jaden Jackson, junior Joe Haight, senior Devin Quinn and junior Konrad Eiring finished first with a time of 3:19.26. The Illini relay squad featuring sophomore Jason Shannon, sophomore Jon Davis, sophomore Doug Wilson and redshirt senior Denis O'Callaghan took second-place in the event with a time of 3:26.72. 

Earlier in the day during the field events, the Illini dominated the pole vault competition by placing in the top four spots of the event. Redshirt junior Jacob LaRocca won the event with his mark of 5.02m. Following him were senior Cooper Jazo (4.72), sophomore Curtis Gordon (4.72) and freshman Jackson Pompe (4.57). 

"We've got quite a bit of work to do to get to where we want to go for a Big Ten level," Turk said. "We've got a great start, but its a process and we've got a long way to go. We've got to up our work, but we've also got to be ready for higher level competition. We're going to get that over the next couple of weeks, and leading into Big Tens. So just making those adjustments and feeling comfortable with the higher level competition will be a big part of it for the younger kids coming back the next couple weeks." 

Next up, the Illini will hit the road for the first time this season as they travel to Iowa City to run in the Larry Wieczorek Invitational hosted by the University of Iowa on Friday, January 18 and Saturday, January 19. 

For complete coverage of Fighting Track & Field, visit FightingIllini.com, follow the Illini on Twitter (@IlliniTrackXC) and Instagram (illinitrackxc) and like Fighting Illini Track and Field & Cross Country on Facebook.

Event Champions:

60m Hurdles- Bret Dannis- 8.09

60m Dash- Devin Quinn- 6.65

1-Mile- Billy Magnesen- 14:15.15

800m- Jon Davis- 1:52.90

Pole Vault- Jacob LaRocca- 5.02m

Team Standings:

1.ILLINOIS – 148

2. Saint Louis- 115

2. Eastern Illinois- 89 

4. Southeast Missouri State- 86

5. Butler- 23