DES MOINES, Iowa - Fighting Illini men's track and field advanced to the 4x100m Final at the Drake Relays by winning their heat in the opening round Friday. The relay group comprised of sophomore Jason Shannon, freshman Declan Rustay, and seniors Joe Haight and Devin Quinn timed a 40.24 finish, good for the top time in the heat which automatically qualified the group for Saturday's final.
Eight teams qualified for tomorrow's 4x100m final. Opposing Illinois in the field will be Kentucky, Houston, Purdue, South Dakota State, Northern Iowa, Air Force and Drake. The final is slated for 3:16 p.m. CT tomorrow afternoon. Fans can watch the Illini in the 4x100m final on NBC Sports Network, which will have live coverage of the meet starting at 3 p.m. The meet can also be streamed with subscriptions to NBCSN Gold or USATF.TV.
The Illini also saw success in individual events on both the men's and women's side on Friday. In the women's Long Jump, senior Janile Rogers set an all-conditions PR with her mark of 6.22 meters. Earlier this season, Rogers recorded a jump of 6.18 meters at the Ole Miss Classic, which ranks ninth in program history and is currently 22nd in the NCAA West Region top-50 in the event. Senior Briana Driver also earned a top-10 finish in the Long Jump, placing sixth with a mark of 6.03 meters.
Junior Carolyn Nye set a PR Friday afternoon in the Pole Vault. Nye recorded a mark of 3.90 meters to place seventh in the event.
The Illini saw another top-performance in the 400m Hurdles from sophomore Amira Aduma on Friday. Aduma clocked a new season-best finish time of 1:00.54 to place eighth in the event.
In the men's 100m Dash, junior Josh Eiker recorded his best time of the season in the event. Eiker clocked a time of 10.34 and placed 13th in the 100m Dash opening round Friday at the Drake Relays.
Illinois track and field also had several athletes competing at the Simpson College Kip Janvrin Open on Friday. The Illini had four event champions at the meet, each of whom set new personal-bests in their respective events.
In the 100m Dash, freshman Olivia Oliver recorded a time of 12.23, a new PR and the top time in the event. In the 100m Hurdles, freshman Kionnah Weaver took home the event title, recording a personal-best finish time of 14.40. Weaver also placed second in the 400m Hurdles, recording a time of 1:03.91, also a personal-best.
The Illini swept the Long Jump competitions at the Kip Janvrin Open. For the women, sophomore Wynda Wormack took the event title, recording a personal-best mark of 5.78 meters. In the men's Long Jump, senior Ben Barnes placed first with a personal-best jump of 6.96 meters.
In the women's High Jump, Ololade Ayoola placed second with a mark of 1.65 meters. Freshman Katie Mans also placed in the top-five, recording a mark of 1.60 meters to place fourth.
The Illini resume action tomorrow at the Drake Relays at 9:45 a.m. CT.
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