RESULTS
LINCOLN, Neb. – Illinois track and field were led by victories in the women's mile, the women's 800 m, and the men's weight throw Saturday in the Husker Quad hosted by Nebraska. Graduate-transfer Manning Plater once again won the weight throw, while senior Rebecca Craddock and sophomore Olivia Howell won the mile and the 800 m respectively, just one week after participating in the Big Ten Cross Country Championships.
"This was a challenging trip with weather related travel delays but we showed we can handle some adversity and thrive," director of track and field Mike Turk said. "We were far from perfect with the dropped stick in the women's 4 x 4 and a couple fouls in the throws. We remained aggressive, took our shots and came up with some outstanding performances. I'm so proud of this team's competitive spirit and togetherness."
Aside from the event winners, Illinois set multiple personal records and strong performances, including two PR's from Jessica McDowell and a second-place finish in the women's 4 x 400 m relay from the Illini squad.
Manning Plater came into the event boasting the second-best weight throw in school history, as well as the best mark in the event in the Big Ten and the fourth best in the NCAA. Today's event winning mark came up short of his throw from the Badger Icebreaker, but at 72-8 still puts him third in school history and second in the Big Ten, trailing himself. He now holds the fourth and seventh spot in the NCAA.
"It was far from his best day but he made it look easy," Coach Turk said about his thrower. "He didn't feel especially great physically but he stayed within himself and just executed his technique. He felt a little off all day, but it was an impressive performance."
One week after placing ninth at the Big Ten Cross Country Championships, Rebecca Craddock won the mile run at the Husker Quad with a time of 4:43.86. Fellow cross country teammates senior Allison McGrath, sophomore Katie Hohe and junior Ayah Aldadah finished in fourth, fifth and sixth place respectively for the Illini in the event.
Olivia Howell won the women's 800 m with a time of 2:09.84. This is her second event win this indoor season. Sophomore Tracy Towns and senior Mikaela Lucki crossed the finish line close behind, placing second and third for Illinois.
"Although we traveled with a smaller squad than normal, we did have all of our event groups here competing including much of the cross country team that had the Big Ten Championships last week," Turk added. "I thought the athletes that competed in cross last week then made the long trip out here this week to perform the way they did was great. Tyler Cushing with a runner up in the mile, Olivia Howell leading Tracy Towns and Mikaela Lucki across the line in the 800 for a 1-2-3 finish and Rebecca Craddock in the mile with a win after a top ten cross country finish last week was impressive. It's not all just fitness, it is learning, focus, believing. Craddock's time was good and she won, but more importantly she trusted herself and her training to be patient in the race, make her move at the right time, with commitment and she finished beautifully. Olivia, Tracy and Mikaela were commanding in their race."
In the men's 800 m, sophomore Will O'Brien placed second with a personal best 1:54.13 in the event. Teammate junior Phil Hall came across the finish line in fourth place as well.
Redshirt-freshman Jessica McDowell had a career day, grabbing two personal bests. First, she placed third in the 400 m with a personal best time of 55.18, then later on grabbed third place in the 200 m with another PR of 24.38.
The Illini wrapped up the event with a strong second place finish in the women's 4 x 400 m led by senior Felicia Phillips, sophomore Danni Stoughton, Howell and McDowell.
"Our women's sprint crew also had a really good meet," Turk commented. "Again, some things to work on but they are improving quickly as a group. They are dropping times across the board and we have the quality depth to run some fast relays. Our inexperience showed a bit today with the dropped stick in the women's 4 x 4. We were running fast in a hot heat, challenging for the win. Next time we will be aggressive but a bit more controlled."
Next weekend Illinois will travel to Iowa City for the Hawkeye B1G Invitational hosted by Iowa on February 12 and 13.
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