Day 1 Recap | Day 2 Recap
Full Men's Results | Full Women's Results
GENEVA, Ohio- The Illinois track team wrapped up their Big Ten Championship weekend on Saturday at the SPIRE Institute. Highlighted by event champions in the men's weight throw and women's mile, the Illini men finished tied for ninth place with 30 points while the women finished in eleventh place with 32 points.
Event Champions
Manning Plater won the men's weight throw on Thursday with a throw of 72-9. This event win is the first for Illinois in the weight throw since the event was added to the Big Ten Championships in 1998.
Olivia Howell won the women's mile with a time of 4:43.36 for the Illini on Saturday. She is the first female Illini Big Ten individual champion since 2015.
Saturday's Action
The Illini men's team capped off a solid overall performance with a strong Saturday in Geneva. Junior Bret Dannis got the scoring started with a seventh place finish in the 60 m hurdles with a time of 8.01, earning the squad two points.
Freshman Tyler Sudduth also secured a point for the team in the shot put with his eighth place finish. He threw 58-5.75 which created a new personal record.
The next highlight for the men's squad came from freshman Aman Thornton in the 600 m. After reaching a personal best 1:17.25 in the preliminaries on Thursday, Thornton came out strong and took fifth place in the event, earning four points for the Illini. His time was 1:18.10.
The events wrapped up for the men with a fifth place finish in the 4x400 m, worth four points. Junior Declan Rustay, sophomore Jason Thormo, sophomore Robert Williams and sophomore Kashief King ran for Illinois.
The women's squad wasted no time putting points on the board, with sophomore Olivia Howell winning the first event of the day in the mile in thrilling fashion. Her 4:43.36 secured the gold medal as well as ten points for the team.
In the 400 m, freshman Jessica McDowell took second place with a time of 53.57 and earned eight points while senior Felicia Phillips finished in eight place and earned one point.
Junior Amira Aduma finished in seventh place in the 60 m with a time of 7.51 securing two points for the Illini, one day after running a personal best 7.48 in the preliminaries yesterday.
A fifth place finish in the 4x400 m relay concluded the meet for the Illini women. Their squad consisted of junior Felicia Phillips, freshman Jessica McDowell, sophomore Danni Stoughton and sophomore Olivia Howell and they timed a 3:41.94, securing four points for the team.
Next Up
Following the B1G Championships, qualifying athletes will compete at the 2021 NCAA Indoor Track Championships in Fayetteville, Ark. on Thursday, March 11- Saturday, March 13.
Illinois Men Scoring Athletes – 30 points total
Manning Plater – Weight Throw –72-9 – 1st place – 10 points
Tyler Cushing, Aman Thornton, Phil Hall, Jon Davis – Distance Medley Relay – 9:36.55 – 2nd place – 8 points
Declan Rustay, Jason Thormo, Robert Williams, Kashief King – 4x400 m relay – 3:11.49 – 4th place – 5 points
Aman Thornton – 600 m – 1:18.10 – 5th place – 4 points
Bret Dannis – 60 m hurdles – 8.01 – 7th place – 2 points
Tyler Sudduth – Shot put – 58-5.75 – 8th place – 1 point
Illinois Women Scoring Athletes - 32 points total
Olivia Howell – Mile – 4:43.36 – 1st place – 10 points
Jessica McDowell – 400 m – 53.57 – 2nd place – 8 points
Rebecca Craddock – 3000 m – 9:22.82 – 5th place – 4 points
Amira Aduma, Ololade Ayoola, Olivia Howell, Jessica McDowell – 4x400 m relay – 3:41.94 - 5th place – 4 points
Mikaela Lucki, Danni Stoughton, Tracy Towns, Emma Milburn – Distance medley relay – 11:30.54 – 6th place – 3 points
Amira Aduma – 60 m – 7.51 – 7th place – 2 points
Felicia Phillips – 400 m – 55.46 – 8th place – 1 point
Final Men's Team Scores
1         Iowa                  119
2         Indiana               92
3         Ohio State          83
4         Nebraska            71
5         Minnesota          70
6         Purdue                61
7         Michigan             52
8         Wisconsin           44
9         Illinois                30
9         Penn State         30
11       Rutgers              28
12       Michigan State    21
Final Women's Team Scores
1         Minnesota          138
2         Michigan             80
3         Iowa                  75
4         Wisconsin           62
5         Michigan State    54
6         Indiana               50
6         Nebraska            50
8         Ohio State          42
9         Penn State         41
10       Purdue                34
11       Illinois                32
12       Rutgers              27
13       Maryland            14
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