Friday Results | Saturday Results

AUBURN, Ala. - Senior Devin Quinn placed first in the 100m and second in the 200m to help lead the Illini in competition at the War Eagle Invitational on Saturday at Auburn University. In Saturday running events, the Illini also saw top-five performances in the 400m from senior Joe Haight and in the 800m from seniors Denis O'Callaghan and Konrad Eiring. Freshman Jaden Jackson also earned a top-five finish in the 400m Hurdles. On Friday night, distance runners Jesse Reiser (3000m Steeplechase), Dan Lathrop, Irwin Loud and Billy Magnesen (5K) all placed in the top-five of their respective events. 

"We had another good meet," said head coach Mike Turk. "I'm very pleased with the effort and execution by the team as a whole. As we push towards the end of the year, I continue to remain impressed by our mindset to continue to grow and improve. The results speak for themselves. We had over 16 lifetime personal bests and numerous seasonal bests and several highlight performances. This group continues to work hard, remain focused and put forth great, competitive effort. Our upperclassmen have stepped up in their roles as leaders and we are becoming a very tight knit, unified team. I'm proud to have those qualities as a part of our program culture. Good things are happening and we continue to come together in support of one another to higher levels. It's a noticeable shift in our team dynamics."

Devin Quinn captured his fifth event title of the outdoor season and third in the 100m dash. Quinn clocked a finish of 10.19 to win the event title at the War Eagle Invitational. Later on in the 200m, Quinn placed second with a season-best time of 20.52. He finished first among collegiate competitors, placing only behind professional runner Jareem Richards.

"Devin showed up big," Turk said. "Everyone wants to talk about SEC conference having tremendous speed and certainly there's a lot of truth to that statement, but Devin is showing how good he really is and can be. I'm so happy for Devin. He has worked hard, continues to improve and has really transformed himself as a person. He will go down as one of the great ones in Fighting Illini history. I will enjoy watching Devin during the coming weeks, but we will miss him and Joe Haight a great deal next year!"

In the men's 400m, Haight clocked a new PR of 46.66. Haight would claim second place in the 400 with the finish. 

Not too long after on Saturday, seniors Denis O'Callaghan and Konrad Eiring ran to top-five finishes in the men's 800m race. O'Callaghan clocked a new outdoor PR in the event, recording a finish of 1:50.86 which would place him second in the event. Eiring clocked a time of 1:51.86, good for third in the event and a new season-best.

Later on in Saturday events, freshman Jaden Jackson set a new PR in the 400m Hurdles. Jackson recorded a time of 53.16 to place fifth in the event. 

On Friday night, Illini distance runners put in strong performances for the Orange and Blue. In the men's 3000m Steeplechase, junior Jesse Reiser clocked a personal-best time of 9:00.45, which would place him second in the event. 

The Illini closed out Friday evening's action with three top-five performances in the men's 5K. Senior Dan Lathrop led the way with a second place finish, clocking a season-best time of 14:23.28. Redshirt freshman Irwin Loud timed a 14:24.41 finish to place third. Redshirt senior Billy Magnesen would place fifth, recording a time of 14:39.54.

Up next, the Illini will head to the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa next week, competing Thursday, April 25 through Saturday, April 27. The Illini will begin competition at the Drake Relays at 4 p.m. CT on Thursday, April 25. 

Event Winners

100m: Devin Quinn- 10.19 

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