NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Illinois men's and women's track and field wrapped up action at the indoor Music City Challenge in the Vanderbilt Multipurpose Facility on Saturday (February 12).

"It was a fantastic weekend to be an Illini," said head coach Mike Turk. "I am so proud of the focus and intensity we show in highly competitive situations. It's a lot of fun. Today we started strong with the 3000m then it was Sudduth's big day in the shot, and then Sam Poglitsch in the women's open 800."

The day started with a pair of standout performances in the unseeded 800m races as freshman Sam Poglitsch finished second with a time of 2:07.85, before classmate Nicolas Dovalovsky won the men's event with a personal best time of 1:51.11.

Freshman Logan Neely and junior Danni Stoughton then secured top five finishes in the unseeded women's 400m race with Neely posting a personal best time of 56.02 to place third and Stoughton finishing in fifth with a time of 56.83.

One of the day's standout performances came next as junior Tyler Sudduth earned a second-place finish with a personal record mark of 19.59m in the men's shot put. It was the 11th best throw in the NCAA in 2022 and the second-best throw in program history.

The Illini then had another pair of top five finishes in the women's pole vault as freshman Tori Thomas placed third after clearing the 3.93m mark on her second attempt and sophomore Kelsey Rothas finished fifth after clearing a personal-record 3.93 on her third and last attempt.

Junior Jessica McDowell placed second in the women's 400m with a time of 53.98, while redshirt-junior Kashief King and junior Jason Thormo finished fifth and sixth, respectively in the men's 400m with a PR time of 47.73 for King and 47.80 for Thormo.

Redshirt-senior Bret Dannis then finished fourth in the men's 60m hurdles with a time of 7.90.

Junior Olivia Howell continued where she left off from Friday as she turned in the second-best time in program history with a personal-best time of 2:04.77 in the women's 800m.

The Illini then wrapped up the day with the best time of the season in the men's 4x400m as junior Robert Williams, freshmen William Merrick and DeVontae Ford and King placed second with a time of 3:12.25.

Illinois Event Champions
Men's unseeded 800m: Nicolas Dovalovsky // 1:51.11

Personal Bests
Women's unseeded 3000m
Madison Marasco » 9:54.39
Maggie Gamboa » 9:55.46

Men's unseeded 3000m
Edwin Siuda » 8:23.43
Eddie Lennon » 8:29.43

Men's unseeded 800m
Nicolas Dovalovsky » 1:51.11
William Merrick » 1:52.66  

Men's shot put
Tyler Sudduth » 19.59m

Women's pole vault
Kelsey Rothas » 3.93

Women's unseeded 400m
Logan Neely » 56.02

Men's 400m
Keegan Anderson » 49.68 (indoor)

Women's 60m hurdles
Kenli Nettles » 9.06

Men's 60m hurdles
Robert Williams » 8.21

Men's 400m
Kashief King » 47.73

Women's 800m
Olivia Howell » 2:04.77

Next Up
The Indoor Music City Challenge continues on Saturday (February 12) with running events starting at 9 a.m. CT with the women's unseeded 3,000m race and field events slated to begin at 11 a.m. CT with the men's shot put and the women's pole vault.

For more Fighting Illini Track & Field news, stay tuned to FightingIllini.com and follow @IlliniTrackXC on social media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook.