Champaign, Ill. – The Illinois men's and women's track team set to host its final home meet of the season, the Illini Invitational, at Demirjian Park on Friday and Saturday (April 22-23).
The Illini will be joined by Illinois State, SIUE, Southern Illinois, Bradley, Milwaukee, Illinois-Chicago, Drake, Eastern Illinois, Chicago State, Western Michigan, IUPUI and the Illinois Wheelchair Team.
The Illini Invitational field events open the competition with the hammer throw at 12 p.m. CT on Friday, while Saturday's events start with the discus throw at 10 a.m. CT. Running events start at 5:30 p.m. CT on Friday with the 200m and at 4 p.m. CT on Saturday with the 4x100m relay.
Illinois will also hold a senior recognition ceremony on Gary R. Wieneke Track for 22 of its graduating seniors starting at 3:30 p.m. CT on Saturday.
Follow the Action
Live results will be available through Shazam Racing HERE and Illini fans can follow the action on @IlliniTrackXC on Twitter. There will also be a live stream of events available via FightingIllini.com.
Last Time Out
The Illinois men's and women's track and field teams wrapped up its west coast weekend, finding success at the Mt. SAC Relays, the Bryan Clay Invitational and the Beach Invitational.
At the Bryan Clay Invitational, junior Aiden Ouimet posted a new school record in the decathlon, scoring 7,348 points and finishing fourth. He bested the previous mark of 7,153 points set by Corey Hammon during the 2015 season. Ouimet was aided by personal bests in six of the events, including 100m (11.05), long jump (7.18m), shot put (13.38m), 400m (50.31), discus throw (36.34) and javelin throw (55.82m).
For the second-straight weekend, freshman Tacoria Humphrey took home the women's high jump title as she posted an outdoor personal-best of 1.74m for her fourth high jump title in her short career. Moving to the track, graduate student Jon Davis added another stellar performance to his name as he registered the second-best time in program history in the men's 1,500m with a new personal-best of 3:36.85, just behind program record holder Marko Koers, who posted a time of 3:33.05 during the 1996 season.
At the Mt. SAC Relays, senior Emma Milburn made her 3000m steeplechase debut, running the sixth-best time in program history at 10:21.07, while freshman Sam Poglitsch also entered the record books in the women's 3000m steeplechase in her debut race with the 10th fastest time in program history at 10:32.57. Freshman Tori Thomas equaled her personal-best with a mark of 4.15m to place second in the women's pole vault collegiate B competition, while sophomore Kelsey Rothas tied for second with an outdoor personal-record of 3.85m in the women's pole vault collegiate C competition.
The Illini relays also had standout performances as the women's 4x100 relay team of senior Nya Carr, junior Jessica McDowell and Logan Neely and Humphrey registered a season-best time of 45.80, while the men's 4x400 relay squad of junior Robert Williams, freshman DeVontae Ford, juniors Kashief King and Jason Thormo also posted a season-best time of 3:09.81.
At the Beach Invitational, Sudduth turned in the third-best mark in program history to win the men's shot put gold invitational with an outdoor personal-best of 19.13m. Sudduth ranks behind program record holder Mike Lehmann (20.84m) and second place holder Jeff Lehmann (19.16m). Graduate student Jon Davis continued his strong showing on the weekend with a runner-up finish in the men's 800m with a time of 1:48.85.
Illini in the Rankings
The Illinois men are ranked at No. 8 in the most recent Outdoor USTFCCCA Midwest Regional TFR, with the Illini women coming in at No. 10.
Next Up
The Illinois men's and women's track team will travel to Des Moines, Iowa for the prestigious Drake Relays next Tuesday-Friday (April 26-29).
For more Fighting Illini Track & Field news, stay tuned to FightingIllini.com and follow @IlliniTrackXC on social media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook.
