Full Results
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Fighting Illini sophomore Jason Shannon took first place in both the 60m dash and the 200m dash to lead No. 21 Illinois at the Illini Invitational at the UI Armory on Saturday. The Illini won six events total at their second and final indoor home meet of the season. Sophomore Jon Davis won the 800m for the second time this season. Sophomore Curtis Gordon took home the Heptathlon title for the Orange and Blue.
"We had a tremendous meet as far as the number of personal-bests we had," said head coach Mike Turk. "Collectively all of our event groups are showing great progress. I'm really pleased with that. I think that our energy was really good, our enthusiasm was better. We continue to kind of step up a notch every week with that. Sometimes when you're two or three weeks in and this is our second home meet its not unusual to see a little bit of a lull. I felt like we didn't see that this weekend. I thought our focus was really good, the energy was good and that is really good to see. We can build on that."
Jason Shannon was impressive in front of the home crowd, setting new PR's in both of his first-place finishes. He started by taking the 60m dash title with a personal-best 6.84 finish. Shannon then followed that performance in the 200m by taking first place with a new PR finish time of 21.85
"I thought Jason was really good today," Turk said. "It was nice to see him have a chance to kind of shine without an upperclassman like Devin (Quinn) around. I was really impressed with his 200. It was just a tremendous race for him. I think he ran almost a second faster than his indoor PR, and to run that on this track with these flat, tight turns is a impressive performance. I'm happy for Jason, he's worked really hard."
Sophomore Jon Davis did not disappoint in his follow-up performance to last weekend's historic sub-four minute mile at the Larry Wieczorek Invitational in Iowa. Competing in the 800m this week, Davis ran a 1:52.17 to win the event and set a new 800m PR. He's now placed first in events in each of the first three meets, winning the 800m at the Illini Open, the Mile at the Larry Wieczorek Invitational, and the 800m again at today's Illini Invitational.
"Davis is obviously a higher-level athlete," Turk said. "He's one of the best athletes in the program as far as his accomplishments and his performances. Jon's road has been a little bumpy over the last year coming off Indoor Nationals with injury and MONO this fall. Where he is right now he's confident, he's getting better, he feels good. I thought it was a really strong performance for him in the 800 today, and that's not something he's normally done. So to see him kind of expand his horizons and not allow himself to be put into a box was really encouraging to see for his future.
Sophomore Curtis Gordon won the Heptathlon at the Illini Invitational, which began on Friday and finished up this afternoon. He won two of the three remaining events in the Heptathlon in today's action, placing first in the 60m Hurdles with a time of 8.54, and then winning the pole vault with a mark of 4.90 which tied his personal-best. He won the Heptathlon with a final point total of 4,696.
Redshirt senior Dan Lathrop turned in the top performance for the Orange and Blue in the 3K, winning the race with an 8:28.85 finish. The Illini were dominant in the event, claiming four of the top-five spots. Redshirt junior Zach Dale placed second, clocking a time of 8:29.75. Redshirt sophomore Jack LaLonde and redshirt junior Caleb Hummer placed fourth and fifth respectively, each finishing with new personal-best times. LaLonde clocked a new PR of 8:40.12, while Hummer finished with a new personal best time of 8:41.92. Unattached freshman Logan Hall finished the race in 8:31.22.
Freshman Declan Rustay won his first collegiate event title by taking first place in the 400m race. He finished with a new collegiate PR of 49.73.
In the pole vault, redshirt junior Jacob LaRocca and junior Cooper Jazo tied for second-place with marks of 5.07m.
Up next, the Illini will head to Lincoln, Nebraska for the Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational hosted by the University of Nebraska.
"We need to continue to build on what we're doing every week," Turk said. "It'll be tough. The competition is going to be a little bit higher, they're going to see some different teams that we normally don't see. It's gonna be a challenge for them."
Event Winners:
60m Dash: Jason Shannon- 6.84
200m Dash: Jason Shannon- 21.85
400m: Declan Rustay- 49.73
800m: Jon Davis- 1:52.17
3K: Dan Lathrop- 8:28.85
Heptathlon: Curtis Gordon- 4,696
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