MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Illinois men's and women's track and field teams finished competition on the final day of the 2022 Big Ten Outdoor Championships on Sunday (May 15) at the University of Minnesota Track and Field Stadium, with the Illini women earning a ninth place finish with 36 points and the Illini men finishing in 12th with 17.5 points. It was the best finish and point total for the women since 2013 when Illinois also earned a runner-up finish at the conference outdoor championships. The final day of competition was highlighted by junior Olivia Howell winning the women's 1500m for the second-straight season.
"The first thing I think of is how great the weather was this weekend, because we did not have a very good spring with weather," said head coach
Mike Turk. "Our performances were lacking going into the meet and I think that some people did an incredible job of grasping that and stepping up their performances. Even
Olivia Howell, up until Drake Relays weekend, did not even have a qualifying time because, tha is just the way its been. So It is a tough position for the young team that we have to go into a championship meet where you already feel like you are behind, but I felt, especially on the women's side, I saw some really good signs of us being close to breaking through."
"I think a little turn in the women's high jump would have been huge and that could have pivoted our whole team score. We were really close there and there is some others knocking on the door. I see those multiple scores and events like
Halle Hill coming in and getting a spot in her final, those are the kind of things I keep track of to show that we are progressing. I think on the men's side, we just had a very disappointing weekend. It did not seem like much of what we did worked out very well. I do not think that was from a lack of preparation, I do not think it was lack of effort, but I think there were certainly some things that showed inexperience on our part that we can learn and grow from."
The first podium placement of the final day was the men's 4x100m relay team, composed of freshman Dacorey Ware, redshirt-junior Kashief King, senior Declan Rustay, and senior Bret Dannis, who finished seventh overall with a time of 40.48. Immediately following, Howell won her second-consecutive Big Ten Outdoor Championships 1500m title, outlasting the opposition with a time of 4:21.75, with freshman teammate Halle Hill earning a fifth place finish with a time of 4:24.89. On the men's side, senior Jon Davis, who won the 1500m a season ago, finished as runner-up in a tight competition, crossing the finish line at 3:52.80.
Junior Jessica McDowell finished fourth overall in the women's 400m, coming in at 52.79, while DeVontae Ford finished eighth in the men's 400m hurdles with a time of 54.53.
The Illini had both relay teams on the podium in the 4x400, with the women finishing fifth in a time of 3:39.97, ran by freshman Logan Neely, McDowell, Howell, and junior Danni Stoughton, and the men finishing eighth, clocking in at 3:14.21 and ran by Ford, King, junior Robert Williams, and junior Jason Thormo.
Freshman CJ Shoaf and junior Alexander Babbington both finished in podium positions in the men's high jump, with Babbington finishing sixth with a leap of 2.08m and Shoaf finishing eighth, clearing 2.05m, respectively.
"I continue to be proud of the effort of this team and the kids keep trying to step up and move forward, especially on the women's side," said Turk. "There are a lot of pieces starting to come together there and of course Jessica McDowell in the sprints and Olivia Howell in the distance events and then moving to Tacoria Humphrey in the jumps, so we are starting to expand our talent base in those other event areas. I think there is some good foundation there to build on those scores for next year."
For their efforts on the weekend, Howell collected All-Big Ten First-Team accolades, while Davis was named All-Big Ten Second-Team.
Illinois Event Champion
Women's 1500m: Olivia Howell // 4:21.75
Illinois Scoring Athletes
Friday
Women's Pole Vault: Tori Thomas // 4.23m // 3rd // 6 points
Saturday
Men's Decathlon: Aiden Ouimet // 7,153 // 7th / 2 points
Women's Heptathlon: Kenli Nettles // 5,216 // 4th // 5 points
Women's 3000m Steeplechase: Emma Milburn // 10:26.85 // 7th // 2 points
Sunday
Women's 1500m: Olivia Howell // 4:21.75 // 1st // 10 points
Men's 1500m: Jon Davis // 3:52.80 // 2nd // 8 points
Women's 400m: Jessica McDowell // 4th // 52.79 // 5 points
Women's 1500m: Halle Hill // 4:24.89 // 5th // 4 points
Women's 4x400: Logan Neely, Jessica McDowell, Olivia Howell, Danni Stoughton // 3:39.37 // 5th // 4 points
Men's High Jump: Alex Babbington // 2.08m // T-6th // 2.5 points
Men's 4x100: Dacorey Ware, Kashief King, Declan Rustay, Bret Dannis // 40.48 // 7th // 2 points
Men's High Jump: CJ Shoaf // 2.05 // 8th // 1 point
Men's 400m Hurdles: DeVontae Ford // 54.53 // 8th // 1 point
Men's 4x400m: DeVontae Ford, Kashief King, Robert Williams, Jason Thormo // 3:14.21 // 8th // 1 point
Illinois All-Big Ten Honorees
First-Team
Olivia Howell
Second-Team
Jon Davis
Next Up
Following the Big Ten Indoor Championships, qualifying athletes will compete at the 2022 NCAA West Prelims on May 26-28 at John McDonnell Field in Fayetteville, Ark.
For more Fighting Illini Track & Field news, stay tuned to FightingIllini.com and follow @IlliniTrackXC on social media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook.
