AUSTIN, Texas - Fighting Illini senior Devin Quinn advanced to the NCAA final in the 100m Dash Wednesday at NCAA Championships, automatically qualifying by finishing second in his semifinal heat with a finish time of 10.01. The 10.01 finish-time is the fastest 100m finish in Illini program history, breaking NCAA Champion Andrew Riley's school-record of 10.02 set in 2012. By qualifying for the 100m Final, Quinn clinches First-Team All-America Honors for the first time in his career.
"When I saw 10.01 on the board I was shocked," said Devin Quinn. "I honestly hadn't been feeling well the past few days and really thought I had a bad stroke of luck. But I knew I was going to go out there today and leave everything on the track. I did exactly that and surpassed every expectation I had for myself. One piece of my race that I thought gave me the edge today was my reaction to the starter and my acceleration. After about 20 meters, I saw where I was in the race and I knew it was going to be something special."
"It was an outstanding performance," said head coach Mike Turk. "I've been telling people for a long time that he's among the best sprinters in the history of Illinois track and field. There are people that have come before him that have done outstanding things on the World level and the Olympic level. But the guy has the 100m and 200m school records in convincing fashion. Records were made to be broken. When (Andrew) Riley ran 10.02, I doubted I'd see that record broken. Devin's performance today was the culmination of four years in his career of focusing and working, and things came together. I don't think he's done yet. I think he's got a little something more left in him."
"Taking Andrew Riley's 100m record is a great honor to say the least," Quinn said. "I have never personally met the man, but I have only heard great things from our coaching staff about him. His time in the 100 was what helped me make some of my progression points through my career at Illinois."
Quinn is the first Illini to qualify for NCAA finals in the 100m Dash since Andrew Riley qualified in 2012. Quinn will look to win the sixth 100m/100 yard Dash title in Illini program history on Friday, and be the first since Riley in 2012 when he went on to take home the title.
"Going to the NCAA finals is a big deal to me," Quinn said. "It's something I knew I could progress to at some point in my career, but was one of the highest points that I dreamed of achieving."
Quinn would also re-set his own school record in the 200m Dash in Wednesday's semifinal, recording a finish time of 20.31. His performance placed him ninth in the semifinal field, though he finished with the seventh-fastest time overall. By placing ninth, Quinn achieves Second-Team All-America honors in the 200m for the second-straight Outdoor season.
"My 200 was a solid run," Quinn said. "I made some mistakes, but ending the day with a new lifetime best is not a bad ending for day one of the NCAA finals." It sucks to barely miss finals, but overall I'm more so excited about my future running the 200 and what I will run with better execution."
The Illini men's 4x100m relay also earned Second-Team All-America honors with their ninth-place finish in Wednesday's semi-final. The relay team of sophomore Jason Shannon, freshman Declan Rustay, and seniors Joe Haight and Devin Quinn clocked a finish-time of 39.01, the fastest 4x100m time for the Illini this season and the fourth-fastest finish in program history. It is the second-consecutive season the Illini earned All-America honors in the 4x100m. The 2019 Illini relay missed qualifying for Friday's final by one spot.
"This is no place to come and hope you get lucky, and I think we proved that," Turk said. "We had a couple of outstanding performances in the 4x100m and 200m. The 4x100m running 39.01, our fastest time of the year, and to miss the final by one one hundredth of a second is heartbreaking. I firmly believe in a better situation, maybe different heats, we're in there. I firmly believe we're one of the best eight teams. In the 200m, Devin ran the seventh-fastest time... That's the way it goes. That's the advancement procedures and we all know that. Unfortunately we've been on the back end of those a couple times now in the last year... The bottom line is you come in here and you're competing with the best of the best. Devin is one of the best, he showed that and his performances will stack up that way final or no final."
Running on the 4x100m relay at NCAA Championships, Shannon and Rustay each pick up their first-career All-America honor. Joe Haight adds on another All-America honor, closing out his career with three All-America accolades. Devin Quinn will finish his Illini career on Friday as a six-time All-American.
Friday's 100m final is scheduled for 8:22 p.m. CT, and will air on ESPN.
Illinois NCAA Semifinal Results
100m: 4. Devin Quinn, 10.01, Q
200m: 9. Devin Quinn, 20.31
4x100m: 9. Jason Shannon, Declan Rustay, Joe Haight, Devin Quinn, 39.01
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