CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Five Illinois track and field athletes qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Championships in Austin, Texas, from Wednesday - Saturday, June 7-10. Three men and two women make the trip to Austin: senior high jumper Alex Babbington, junior decathlete Aiden Ouimet, junior 400m hurdler Robert Williams, junior 1500m runner Olivia Howell and sophomore pole vaulter Tori Thomas.
Howell won her 1500m heat to qualify for her third straight NCAA Outdoor Championships. She became the first Illini in over a decade to qualify for Nationals in the same event three straight years. Angela Bizzarri was the last to do so in the 5000m from 2008-10. The last Illini woman prior to Howell to make it to Nationals in the 1500m was Stephanie Morgan in 2011.
Howell aims to become the first Illini in over 20 years to win a NCAA title both indoors and outdoors in the same season. Perdita Felicien was the last to accomplish this feat back in 2002, she won the 60mH indoors and the 100mH outdoors. She starts her quest in the semifinals on June 8 at 7:46 p.m. and the finals are on June 10 at 8:12 p.m. CT.
Babbington qualified for his first Nationals with an excellent outing at the NCAA West Preliminaries in Sacramento, California, a couple weeks ago. He claimed sole possession of the fourth highest jump in the Illinois record book with a 2.14m (7-0 1/4) clearance. He locked himself into a tie for 10th place and earned the final qualifying spots thanks to clearing earlier heights in the least attempts. He became the first high jumper to qualify for the national meet since the current school record holder, Jonathan Wells, did so in 2021. The high jump finals begin on June 9 at 7:30 p.m. CT.
Ouimet qualified for his first Nationals by placing third and breaking his own decathlon school record at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships from May 12-13 with 7,679 points. His performance is the 19th-best score in the country and the top 24 make the cut for Nationals. He became the first athlete in program history to make the cut in the decathlon for the NCAA Outdoor Championships. The decathlon starts on June 7 at 2:30 p.m. and the second half is on June 8 at noon CT.
Williams punched his first ticket to the national meet when he ran the program's eighth-fastest 400mH time (50.35) in the first round to advance to the quarterfinals. He then ran a 50.53 to make the top-12 cut by placing 10th overall. Williams became the first 400m hurdler to advance to Nationals since the current school record holder, David Kendziera, did so in 2018. He's set to run in the semifinals on June 7 at 8:30 p.m. and if he advances, the finals will be June 9 at 9:27 p.m. CT.
Thomas rounds out the qualifying group punching her first ticket to the pole vault finals. She placed sixth overall and cleared 4.22m (13-10) placing her comfortably inside the top-12 cut. She's the first Illini pole vaulter to make it to Nationals since current school record holder, Stephanie Richartz, did so in 2015. The pole vault finals begin on June 8 at 7:30 p.m. CT.
