GENEVA, Ohio – Illinois put a show in the mile race as the Illini track team capped the 2022 Big Ten Indoor Championships on Saturday (February 26) at the SPIRE Institute, with both the men and the women finishing in 10th place with 34 and 30 points, respectively.  

"I am proud of our competitiveness and our program development," said head coach Mike Turk. "We definitely have much more work to do but we're starting to see results."

With a dominating performance in the women's mile, junior Olivia Howell became the back-to-back Big Ten Indoor Champion with a time of 4:33.78 after also taking home the title a season ago.

Graduate student Jon Davis then gave the Illini the sweep as he earned the men's mile conference title with a time of 4:08.37, becoming the first Illinois champion in the event since Mike Durkin in 1975.

Leading off the day for the Illini was freshman Tacoria Humphrey and graduate student Kristin Higgins in the women's high jump, with the duo finishing in the top eight in the event as Humphrey tied for fourth after clearing 1.75m on her first attempt and Higgins placing seventh after clearing the same height on her second attempt.

"We had a terrific start to the day in the women's high jump," said Turk. "Tacoria and Kristin have been great all year and it is awesome to have two scorers in the event, especially as Tacoria is just a freshman."

"Of course, the main attraction today was the mile finals. After their respective performances last night in the distance medley relay, Olivia and Jon both showed special performances to sweep the men's and women's mile. It was just incredible."

Junior Jessica McDowell registered a fourth-place finish in the women's 400m with a time of 53.60, while senior Bret Dannis added a fifth-place showing with a time of 7.90 in the men's 60m hurdles.

"It is too bad have to run a two-section final and Jess did not get to compete head-to-head with those that finished ahead of her," said Turk. "You cannot control that, but she made a tactical error in her race. She knew it and it cost her. I love that she came right to me after the race to acknowledge the mistake. That will make her a better athlete, holding herself accountable and setting a great example. Bret Dannis improved upon his finish from last year and has really closed the fab on his completion."

The Illini then wrapped the day with a fifth-place showing in the men's 4x400m relay as the quartet of senior Jaden Jackson, redshirt-junior Kashief King, junior Robert Williams and freshman DeVontae Ford turned in UI's best time of the season with a 3:10.96 to win their section.

"We went into the 4x400m relay without Jason Thormo, which did not feel great, but Jaden Jackson filled the spot, ran a great leg to get us out in the race, then King, Williams and Ford all just competed," added Turk. "We won our heat and ran our best time of the season."

For their efforts in the two-day meet, Howell, Davis, King and freshmen Nicolas Dovalovsky and William Merrick were all named All-Big Ten First-Team, while McDowell, freshman Sam Poglitsch and junior Tracy Towns garnered second-team accolades.

Illinois Event Champions
Men's Distance Medley Relay: Nicolas Dovalovsky, Kashief King, William Merrick, Jon Davis // 9:35.38
Women's Mile: Olivia Howell // 4:33.78
Men's Mile: Jon Davis // 4:08.37

Illinois Scoring Athletes
Day 1
Women's Distance Medley Relay: Sam Poglitsch, Jessica McDowell, Tracy Towns, Olivia Howell // 11:03.41 // 2nd place // 8 points
Women's Pentathlon: Kenli Nettles // 3,446 points // 8th place // 1 point
Men's Distance Medley Relay: Nicolas Dovalovsky, Kashief King, William Merrick, Jon Davis // 9:35.38 // 1st place // 10 points
Men's long jump: Daniel Mboyo // 7.45m // 5th place // 4 points
Men's shot put: Tyler Sudduth // 18.89m // 7th place // 2 points

Day 2
Women's Mile: Olivia Howell // 4:33.78 // 1st // 10 points
Men's Mile: Jon Davis // 4:08.37 // 1st // 10 points
Women's High Jump: Tacoria Humphrey // 1.75m // T-4th // 4 points
Women's High Jump: Kristin Higgins // 1.75m // 7th // 2 points
Women's 400m: Jessica McDowell // 53.60 // 4th // 5 points
Men's 60m Hurdles: Bret Dannis // 7.90 // 5th // 4 points
Men's 4x400m Relay: Jaden Jackson, Kasheif King, Robert Williams, DeVontae Ford // 3:10.96 // 5th // 4 points

Illinois All-Big Ten Honorees
First-Team
Olivia Howell
Jon Davis
Nicolas Dovalovsky
Kashief King
William Merrick

Second-Team
Jessica McDowell, ILL
Sam Poglitsch, ILL
Tracy Towns, ILL

Next Up
With the conclusion of the Big Ten Indoor Championships, qualifying athletes will next compete at the 2022 NCAA Indoor Track & Field Championships on March 11-12 in Birmingham, Ala.

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