University of Illinois
Larry Wieczorek Invitational
Larry Wieczorek Invitational Provides Personal-Bests for Illini
January 23, 2021 | Women's Track & Field, Men's Track & Field
RECAP
IOWA CITY, Iowa – The Illinois track and field team set numerous personal best marks and competed across the board this weekend in the Larry Wieczorek Invitational. The Illini were led by All American Redshirt-Senior Jon Davis who dominated the men's 3000 m premier race as well as senior Amira Aduma who placed third overall in both the women's 60 m dash and the women's long jump.
"Early in the season, I naturally want to see consistency and a continuation of progress," said director of track & field Mike Turk. "At the same time, this week it was a bigger meet, more challenging competition and schedule. After our great opening weekend we really focused on execution, aggressiveness taking chances and enthusiasm. We checked all those boxes, I like the way we are competing."
In total, Illinois won three events including the men's 3000 m premier by Davis, the men's 600 m premier by sophomore Aman Thornton and the women's 400 m dash by sophomore Danni Stoughton. The Fighting Illini Men placed third overall while the Fighting Illini Women placed fifth.
Davis won the men's 3000 m with a time of 8:08.85, with fellow Illini sophomore Jack Roberts following in second place with a time of 8:30.85. Redshirt-sophomore Colin Yandel finished fourth and sophomore Eddie Lennon came in fifth, with the Illini taking four of the top five spots in the race. This event alone contributed 24 points to the men's team total score.
"Jon is a veteran," Turk said about the redshirt-senior. "His path has been a bumpy ride but he has had a solid block of continuous training. He ran strong physically and displayed the kind of mental toughness that makes him great."
In his first action competing as an Illini, Thornton won the men's 600 m premier with a time of 1:18.06. This mark enters Thornton into the Illini record book as the 9th fastest time in the event in school history. His time today is his new personal best, and counted for ten points towards the men 's team total score.
"Aman is proving he can be a special contributor in our program," Coach Turk commented. "He ran the race very well tactically, looked like he was in command, ran excellent splits and ran an outstanding 600 m and then came back to anchor the 4 x 4. Big things are ahead for Aman."
Stoughton finished in first place in the women's 400 m dash. She also placed second in the women's 200 m dash with a time of 25.28, beating her personal best of 25.31.
Sophomore Jessica McDowell finished second in the women's 400 m premier with a time of 55.67, good for her own personal best of 56.30.
"So proud of what Jess has done," Turk added. "She was injured most of last year as a freshman then COVID-19 hit. She has been so resilient to come back better than before and brought tremendous energy to the team. I was especially impressed with Jess' 4 x 4 leg, not because of the time, she can run faster, but because of the adjustment she made to her race tactics. She made a slight error in her open 400 race, we talked about it and made sure not to repeat the same mistake in the 4 x 4. Outstanding coachability!"
Following his impressive start to his collegiate career last week at the Badger Icebreaker, freshman Nick Drayden placed second in the men's triple jump and sixth in the competitive men's long jump. His long jump distance was 22-10 1/2 while his triple jump was 46-2 ¾, each improvements since last week's competition.
After not competing in Wisconsin last weekend, Aduma picked up where she left off on a successful 2020 indoor campaign, placing third in both the women's 60m premier and the women's long jump. Her 60 m time was 7.53, and her long jump totaled 19-8 ¼. She contributed twelve points combined for the women's team score.
Turk wrapped up the weekend by saying, "There were a lot of heat winners and lifetime bests this weekend. We are showing to be a much improved team. We have cross country championships and multis next week while the rest train for our annual road trip to Nebraska. That will present a different challenge and I am excited to see how we can respond with a full week of training to prepare."
Up next, the Illini return home for the Illini B1G Multi on Saturday, January 30. A schedule will be released for the event via the Illinois Athletics website this week.
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