CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Illinois women’s and men’s track and field teams saw success across the board, highlighted by nine event champions, as they competed at home in the Illini Classic on Saturday (April 9) at Gary R. Wieneke Track and Demirjian Park.
“First of all, our staff did an outstanding job of working through a lot of issues this week with weather,” said head coach Mike Turk. “It was less than ideal all leading up to the meet and we just kept preparing like we were going to put our best foot forward and we got a little break in the weather and it ended up being a beautiful day at Demirjian Park and Wieneke Track.”
“We got a opportunity to compete and some people really stepped forward and took advantage of that. DeVontae Ford is certainly one of those that jumps way out and these are the kind of meets that breakthrough performances you maybe are not expecting them and we are starting to see those kind of performances from a lot of our younger student-athletes. I am very pleased with the efforts we put forward and we have got a big trip coming up this week out to Mt. SAC.”
In the field events, the Orange and Blue saw multiple top three finishes, with redshirt-junior Brian Keyes finishing in third in the men’s hammer throw with a toss of 54.67m to begin the meet. Later in the day, Keyes registered another third-place finish, this time in the discus throw, with a mark of 48.86m. Junior Tyler Sudduth finished second in the same event with a mark of 50.92m. In the final field event, Sudduth grabbed a shot put championship with a 17.97m mark.
Both the women’s and men’s teams saw excellent performances in the vertical events, with freshman Collin Kao winning the men’s pole vault with a mark of 4.75m. On the women’s side, sophomore Kelsey Rothas, junior Noor Abdellatif, and junior Jess Streepy swept the women’s pole vault, with Rothas winning the event with a 3.75m vault, Abdellatif behind her with a 3.50m mark, and Streepy rounding out the sweep with a 3.35m climb. Freshman Tacoria Humphrey and graduate student Kristin Higgins replicated their teammates success in the women’s high jump, combining for a one-two finish, both leaping to a 1.70m mark. Humphrey won the event after using only one attempt to lift herself over the bar, while Higgins used all three of her attempts.
The women’s 4×100 team of juniors Nicole Nguyen, Danni Stoughton and Jeanea Epps and freshman Logan Neely cruised to victory to begin the running events for the Illini, crossing the finish line at 47.78. Shorty after, senior Bret Dannis won the 110m hurdles, setting a personal best along the way, with a time of 13.90. Freshman CJ Shoaf placed third in the same event with a time of 14.80.
Freshman Edwin Siuda (9:17.83) and sophomore Anthony Maida (9:22.52) finished third and fourth in the men’s 3000m steeplechase, while freshman Maggie Gamboa won the women’s 3000m steeplechase in a time of 11:02.01 and junior Katie Hohe finished third with a time of 11:18.10.
Freshman DeVontae Ford earned a runner-up finish in the 400m dash with a time of 47.52, while on the women’s side, Stoughton finished third with a time of 56.08. Senior Jaden Jackson won the 400m hurdles for the second-straight meet with a time of 53.53, with junior Mason Barr finishing third with a time of 56.02. In the women’s 400m hurdles, Neely won the event in a time of 1:01.69, while senior Kionnah Weaver finished right behind Neely, recording a 1:04.04 mark. In the 1,500m, redshirt-junior Colin Yandel finished second with a time of 3:52.98 and senior Emma Milburn set a new personal-best while finishing third, marking a 4:25.48.
Illinois Event Champions
Women’s High Jump: Tacoria Humphrey // 1.70m
Men’s Pole Vault: Collin Kao // 4.75m
Women’s Pole Vault: Kelsey Rothas // 3.75m
Men’s Shot Put: Tyler Sudduth // 17.97m
Men’s 110m Hurdles: Bret Dannis // 13.90
Women’s 3000m Steeplechase: Maggie Gamboa // 11:02.01
Women’s 4x100m Relay: Nicole Nguyen, Danni Stoughton, Jeanea Epps, Logan Neely // 47.78
Men’s 400m Hurdles: Jaden Jackson // 53.53
Women’s 400m Hurdles: Logan Neely // 1:01.69
Personal Bests
Men’s 110m Hurdles
Bret Dannis »13.90
Women’s 1,500m
Emma Milburn » 4:25.48
Up Next
Illinois travels to Walnut, Calif. for the Mt. Sac Relays next Thursday through Saturday (April 14-16).
For more Fighting Illini Track & Field news, stay tuned to FightingIllini.com and follow @IlliniTrackXC on social media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook.
