The men’s track team won this weekend’s Central Collegiate Championship finishing with 232 points. Kent State was a far second to the Illini with 149.5 points followed by Wisconsin-Milwaukee at third, Western Illinois at fourth, McKendree College at fifth and DePaul finishing sixth.

Illinois dominated most of the meet, winning 10 of the 17 events and earning over 40 percent of the total points.

“I’m very happy for these young men in that this is their first Intercollegiate meet that they’ve won and they did it with depth,” Wayne Angel, the second year headcoach said. “We had about sixty points that we didn’t even run. I’m very pleased.”

Junior Tra Smith provisionally qualified in the 800m with a time of 1:50.09 and also was named outstanding athlete of the meet.

“It’s an honor,” Smith said. “We practice hard to go out and win the races and when you get something extra like most outstanding athlete of the meet, it’s just icing on the cake.”

Freshman Pierre Bush proved that his first place finish in the 60m run at the Hoosier Open on Jan. 8 was not a fluke by winning the race in 6.85 seconds. Bush’s time was the ninth fastest in school history. Junior Abe Jones took third in the race with a time of 6.972.

“Pierre is a big surprise. His performance was just outstanding,” said Angel, who earned Collegiate Coach of the Year at the meet. “I think he’s got a lot of room to improve. I think he’s going to be a big-time sprinter once it’s all said and done. We’re

happy for him.”

Illinois took first, second and third in both the 200m and 600m runs. In the 200m, Jones finished at 21.79 seconds, .51 seconds past his personal record, in route to the win. Juniors Nathan Vadeboncouer and Andre English placed second and third, respectively.

The Illini also swept the 600m run with sophomore Zach Glavash finishing first with a time of 1:17.88, fourth fastest in school history. Senior Aaron King took second and Jones finished third.

Sophomore Tim Kelly turned it on in the last 100m to take second place in the 3000m, passing Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Josh Nygren.

Although the team’s roster is relatively the same with a few additions, Smith said the team’s attitude and approach to meets have changed since last year.

“We approach things differently,” Smith said. “We cheer for each other better and we’re having more fun as a team. That goes a long way when you’re trying to build a championship team. The chemistry is definitely there.”

The Illini will have a much tougher test next weekend in the Carle/Health Alliance Invite. Three top track teams in the country – Wisconsin, Syracuse and Georgia – will be competing according to Angel. Wisconsin won last year’s Big Ten Championship and is the best long-distance runner in the country with NCAA champ Simon Bairu.