University of Illinois
Drake Relays
Illinois Set to Wrap Regular Season at Drake Relays
April 27, 2022 | Women's Track & Field, Men's Track & Field
Preview
| Drake Relays | |
|---|---|
| Dates | Thursday-Saturday, April 28-30 |
| Location | Des Moines, Iowa // Drake Stadium |
| Meet Information | Meet Information | Schedule | Heat Sheets | Live Results |
| Shop | Fighting Illini Store |
| Social Media | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook |
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Illinois men's and women's track and field teams are set to travel to Des Moines, Iowa to compete in the prestigious Drake Relays on Thursday through Saturday (April 28-30) for their final regular season meet before the Big Ten Championships.
The meet opens with the distance carnival at 5 p.m. CT on Thursday, the women's 4x800m relay at 8:50 a.m. CT on Friday and the women's distance medley on Saturday at 12:10 p.m. CT.
Follow the Action
Live results will be available through Prime Time Timing HERE and Illini fans can follow the action on @IlliniTrackXC on Twitter.
Last Time Out
The Illinois women's and men's track and field teams wrapped up its home meet schedule with the Illini Invitational this past weekend at Demirjian Park, highlighted by 14 event titles.
Junior Jessica McDowell was the first Illini champion on Friday, winning the women's 200m dash with a personal best time of 23.60. The Illini swept the women's and men's 400m hurdles as freshman Logan Neely ran a personal best time in the women's 400m hurdles with a 1:00.24 to be crowned champion, and junior Robert Williams and freshman DeVontae Ford finished less than a hundredth of a second apart, claiming first and second for the Illini. Williams and Ford officially finished with a time of 51.27, a personal best for both. Senior Emma Milburn then wrapped up the Illini medalists as she finished first in the women's 1500m with a personal best time of 4:22.40.
The men's 4x100 squad, composed of senior Declan Rustay, freshmen Dacorey Ware and DeVontae Ford, and senior Bret Dannis, were the first Illini event champions on Saturday, finishing with a time of 40.85. Dannis and Ford also secured podium positions in the 110m hurdles, finishing first and third, with Dannis winning with a wind-aided personal best time of 13.66 and Ford finishing in a time of 13.93.
In the women's 400m, the Illini claimed all three podium positions as junior Jessica McDowell finished first with a time of 53.23, freshman Logan Neely in second with a time of 56.29 and junior Danni Stoughton finished in third with a time of 56.62. It was a championship sweep for the Orange and Blue in the 100m dash, with senior Nya Carr winning the women's section in a time of 11.60, and Rustay topping the men's section with a 10.31 wind-aided personal best.
The Illini added another one-two combination in the women's 800m field as junior Olivia Howell and freshman Halle Hill dominated the field, finishing first and second with times of 2:07.11 and 2:10.21, respectively. The Illini also swept the 3000m steeplechase races as well, with freshman Maggie Gamboa running a 10:43.44 to claim her crown and freshman Edwin Siuda running a 9:09.34 personal best time to win the event. The running events were capped by the 4x400 women's team of McDowell, sophomore Kenli Nettles, Neely, and junior Danni Stoughton taking first place with a time of 3:41.02.
In the field events, graduate student Kristin Higgins equaled a personal-best leap of 1.75m in the women's high jump to secure another event champion, while freshman Tori Thomas finished second overall in the women's pole vault with a mark of 3.88m. Junior Tyler Sudduth had another strong outing on the day, finishing as runner-up in the men's shot put with a toss of 18.78m and took home a third place finish in the men's discus with a mark of 50.07m.
Illini in the Rankings
Both the Illinois women and men were ranked at No. 8 in the most recent Outdoor USTFCCCA Midwest Regional TFR.
Up Next
The Illini men's and women's track and field teams will travel to Minneapolis, Minn., for the Big Ten Outdoor Championships, hosted by Minnesota at the University of Minnesota Track & Field Stadium on May 13-15.
For more Fighting Illini Track & Field news, stay tuned to FightingIllini.com and follow @IlliniTrackXC on social media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook.
