Full Results
NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Illinois men's distance medley relay group set a new top time in Illini program history Saturday at the Alex Wilson Invitational hosted by Notre Dame, clocking a finish time of 9:29.19. The DMR squad comprised of juniors Jesse Reiser and Joe Haight, redshirt senior Denis O'Callaghan and sophomore Jon Davis placed third in the event at the meet, and the finish time currently stands as the ninth fastest in the NCAA.
"It was a magnificent team effort from all four guys," said head coach Mike Turk. "Jesse Reiser led off with a very competitive third leg that had us right in the race. "In the 400 leg, Joe Haight showed his experience and made a beautiful move ahead of two runners going into the first turn, and had the fastest 400 split of the day. Denis O'Callaghan ran his all-time fastest 800 leg to keep us in the front pack, and Jon Davis pushed the pace early, which enabled the race to stay on fast qualifying pace, and his finish the last 50 meters made a difference. It was exactly the kind of performance we expected."
The 9:29.19 finish in today's 4000m men's DMR ran by Reiser, Haight, O'Callaghan is the fastest in program history. Today's time tops the previous UI program best of 9:29.40 set by Kyle Engnell, Stephon Pamilton, Ryan Lynn and Graham Morris back in 2013.
The women's DMR team of freshman Madison Marasco, junior Felicia Phillips, and sophomores Mikaela Lucki and Rebecca Craddock finished the race with a time of 11:30.01. Additionally, senior Konrad Eiring and freshman Emma Milburn competed in the 800m races today at the Alex Wilson Invitational. Eiring set a new indoor PR in the men's 800m with a time of 1:50.99 to place ninth. In the women's 800m, Milburn placed 18th with a time of 2:12.48.
Up next, the Illini will compete at Big Ten Championships hosted by University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Championships will take place Friday, February 22 and Saturday, February 23.
"Relays are fun and bring energy to the whole team," Turk said. "This was a good lead up for next week. We're ready for Big Tens."
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.
