Day 1 Results | Saturday Heat Sheets

GENEVA, Ohio - Fighting Illini men's track & field redshirt senior Jonathan Wells won the Long Jump title to lead the Illini on Day 1 of Big Ten Indoor Championships at the SPIRE Institute. Wells jumped 25-1 1/4 (7.65 meters) to place first in the event and score 10 points for Illinois at the conference meet.

This is the third Big Ten title of Wells' storied career, and his first Big Ten Long Jump title. He had previously won Big Ten titles in the High Jump at Big Ten Outdoor Championships in 2018, and the High Jump at 2017 Big Ten Indoor Championships. Dating back to 1944, Wells is the only Illini to have won Big Ten titles in both the Long Jump and High Jump in a career. This is the first Illini Big Ten title in the Long Jump since Rod Tolbert's win in the event at the 1987 Big Ten Indoor Championships held at the UI Armory. 

The Illini also saw a bronze medal performance in the Distance Medley Relay. The Illinois relay comprised of redshirt sophomore Irwin Loud, sophomore Phillip Hall, redshirt freshman Kashief King and redshirt junior Jon Davis timed 9:45.43 to earn the bronze medal and score six points for the Illini.

Redshirt senior Jacob LaRocca earned a point for Illinois with his finish in the Pole Vault. LaRocca cleared 16-7 1/2 (5.07 meters) to place eighth.

Sophomore Bret Dannis qualified for the 60m Hurdles through his performance in prelims on Friday. Dannis clocked a finish time of 7.99 to tie for ninth and qualify for the event final, which is set to take place on Saturday at 1:50 p.m. CT.

Freshman Jason Thormo turned in a strong performance in today's 400m prelims. He timed a new personal-best finish of 47.38 to finish 11th at his first conference meet.

At the end of the first day, Illinois is in fifth place in the team standings with 17 points. Final running events and the last of field events will take place tomorrow at Big Ten Indoor Championships. Competition resumes tomorrow at 10 a.m. CT with the Heptathlon 60m Hurdles and the women's High Jump.  

Illinois Scorers And Finals Qualifiers

Long Jump: Jonathan Wells, 25-1 1/4 (7.65 meters), 1st Place | 10 Points 
Distance Medley Relay: Irwin Loud, Phillip Hall, Kashief King, Jon Davis, 9:45.43, 3rd Place | 6 Points
Pole Vault: Jacob LaRocca, 16-7 1/2 (5.07 meters), 8th Place | 1 Point
60m Hurdles: 9t. Bret Dannis, 7.99q (7.987)

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