Full Results

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Fighting Illini men's track & field won seven events at the 2020 Illini Invitational on Saturday at the UI Armory. Redshirt senior Jonathan Wells won the High Jump title in the last appearance of his collegiate career at the Armory.  Sophomore Declan Rustay was an event winner in the 60m Dash, 200m Dash and was the anchor leg on the first-place 4x400m relay.

"I was really pleased with our effort and performance today," said director of track & field/cross country Mike Turk. "We challenged the team to bring a higher level of energy, try to amp things up from what we did last week. I think they did an outstanding job of that. I really like our team. We've got a pretty young squad, but they can do some things. They've got a chance to be a really special group. I love the way they're interacting and working together. It's starting to show out on the track with the performances, and the kind of atmosphere that we have in our competitions is really outstanding."

Redshirt senior Jonathan Wells made his season debut in the High Jump on Saturday. The 2019 U.S. Outdoor Championships bronze medalist in the event jumped 2.17 meters to win the title in the final meet of his collegiate career at the Armory. Fellow Illini Kavin Rajagopal cleared 2.07 meters to finish second. Wells' mark of 2.17 meters ties for 18th in the nation and is fourth-best in the Big Ten.

"Jonathan is one of our star performers," Turk said. "He's carried a load of scoring a lot of points, and he's brought a lot of attention to the program with his results and performances. Jonathan is a very unique, special person. His character is impeccable. He cares so much about other people and shows them that. He's an outstanding leader."

Rustay brought home his first two event titles of the season win wins in the 60m Dash and 200m Dash. Rustay set a new personal-best finish time of 6.80 (6.791) to win the 60m Dash. Junior Jason Shannon also clocked 6.80 (6.796), which was a new personal-best. Rustay then timed 21.95 to win the 200m Dash. 

"I'm really pleased by Declan's progress," Turk said. "We recruited him to specialize more in short sprints, and I think last year the personnel we had we needed him to run long sprints a lot more. This year we kind of tried to take him back to that speed base a little bit more and work on his short sprints, and obviously the results are showing great progress. Declan is just a great kid like a lot of our kids. He's got a big heart. He'll lay it out there, compete to the very best of his abilities. I think that the move in his training this year is pretty beneficial and going to pay off for us down the road." 

Redshirt junior Cooper Jazo set a new PR and won the men's Pole Vault Saturday at the Illini Invitational. Jazo cleared 5.16 meters to win the event. He now ranks 35th nationally and fifth in the Big Ten in the event. 

Freshman Aiden Ouimet won the event title in the men's Heptathlon with a total of 4,633 points. He won the 60m Hurdles, Long Jump and Pole Vault competitions in the event. 

Freshman Jason Thormo also secured the first event title of his collegiate career on Saturday at the Illini Invitational, winning the 400m Dash. Thormo timed 49.70 to take the event title.

The Illini closed the day with a victory in the 4x400m Relay. The relay of sophomore Jaden Jackson, freshman Robert Williams, Thormo and Rustay recorded a finish time of 3:18.45 to win the last event of the day at the Illini Invitational.

Illinois track & field and cross country honored 10 seniors on Saturday for Senior Day. On the men's side, Jordan Cagigal, Zach Dale, Jacob LaRocca, Jesse Reiser and Jonathan Wells were recognized for their contributions to the program. 

"I hate Senior Day because I always get emotional," Turk said. "I love these kids and the things they've done in the program each and every one of them. Not all of them are All-Americans or Academic All-Americans but they're all great people who have worked really hard and given their all to the program. They're people who are going to go on and be successful and represent the University and be leaders in society. I'm so proud of them and so blessed to have an opportunity to work with these people. We're going to miss them, there's no question about it. They can't be replaced. It's a great group." 

The Illini travel to Big Ten foe Indiana for the Indiana Relays. The two-day meet will take place on Friday, January 31, and Saturday, February 1.  

Illinois Event Champions

High Jump: Jonathan Wells, 2.17 meters
Pole Vault: Cooper Jazo, 5.16 meters
60m Dash: Declan Rustay, 6.80
200m Dash: Declan Rustay, 21.95
400m Dash: Jason Thormo, 49.70
4x400m: Jaden Jackson, Robert Williams, Jason Thormo, Declan Rustay, 3:18.45
Heptathlon: Aiden Ouimet, 4,633 points.

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.