SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Illinois men's and women's track and field teams wrapped competition at the Meyo Invitational this weekend with the Illini led by junior Olivia Howell breaking her own school record in the mile as well as several personal bests on Saturday (February 5) at the Loftus Sports Center.

"We went into the weekend resting many of our spent hurdle and jump squad but what a great weekend," said head coach Mike Turk. "This team keeps growing and improving. They work diligently and compete with focus and intensity. As a result, another weekend full of personal bests."

"The focus of this meet was really set up for our distance squad to get on a big track and put up some times. I cannot say enough how impressed I was by their preparation and execution. We are building a great distance program and culture."

After setting a new school record in the mile just a week ago at the PNC Lenny Lyles Invitational, Howell broke her own record with a personal best time of 4.37.11 to win the event. Howell's time sits as the second-best time in the Big Ten and 16th-best time in the nation through the first four weeks of the indoor season.  

"Olivia was spectacular today," added Turk. "In my opinion, it was one of the better races she's run from a focus and tactics standpoint. She ran strong start to finish and her confidence continues to grow."

Graduate student Allison McGrath gave the Illini a strong start on the day with a win in the 3,000m morning race with a personal best time of 9:37.89, with freshman Halle Hill finishing in third with a time of 9:40.53.

Graduate student Jon Davis also continued where he left off last week as he broke his indoor personal record in the 800m for the second-straight week with a time of 1:49.37 to place second.

Junior Tyler Sudduth had another impressive weekend as he registered the third-best throw in program history with a personal record of 19.00m to place third in the men's shot put.

"Tyler Sudduth is putting together a special season and now he's in the 19m club," said Turk. "We've believed this was coming and now we'll look to continue to get better heading into Big Ten's in a few weeks."

The Illini distance runners continued to stay hot as senior Emma Milburn turned in the third-best time in program history in the women's 3000m with a personal best time of 9:21.37.

The Illini had 18 student-athletes post personal best performances on the day.

Illinois Event Champions
Women's 3000m: Allison McGrath // 9:37.89
Women's Mile: Olivia Howell // 4:37.11

Personal Bests
Women's 3000m
Allison McGrath » 9:37.89

Men's 3000m
Eddie Lennon » 8:32.79
Will Giblin » 8:35.39
Logan Hall » 8:36.48
Ben Giblin » 8:38.02

Women's Mile
Amalia Malecek » 4:56.74

Men's Mile
Will O'Brien » 4:09.54

Women's 60m Hurdles
Kenli Nettles » 9.09

Men's 60m Hurdles
Aiden Ouimet » 8.67
Alexander Babbington » 8.67

800m
Jon Davis » 1:49.37

Men's Shot Put
Tyler Sudduth » 19.00m
Will Rezny » 17.68m
Billy Matzek » 17.12m

Women's Mile
Olivia Howell » 4.37.11

Women's 3000m
Emma Milburn » 9:21.37

Men's 3000m
Colin Yandel » 8:09.72
Jack Roberts » 8:10.42

Next Up
Illinois continues its indoor season next weekend by sending groups to the Husky Classic in Seattle, Wash., and the Indoor Music City Challenge in Nashville, Tenn., with both meets taking place on Feb. 11-12.

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