The men’s track team wrapped up the indoor season last weekend at the NCAA Indoor Championship in Fayetteville, Ark. Arkansas won the meet, giving them their 18th indoor championship. Florida sophomore Kerron Clement won the 400-meter in a U.S. record time of 44.57 seconds, breaking Michael Johnson’s old record of 44.63 set in 1995.

This was the first national championship meet that Illinois competed in since 2001. The Illini qualified for three events: the 4×400-meter relay, the 800-meter and the long jump, but failed to move on to the finals.

Sophomore Zach Glavash, who was seeded eighth in the 800, placed 12th in prelims.

Freshman Nick Brown was seeded 14th in the long jump and finished in the same spot, jumping 23 feet, 2.5 inches. His previous best, set at the Alex Wilson Last Chance Invite the week prior to nationals, was 24’11.75″.

The 4×400 relay of sophomore Nathan Vadeboncoeur and juniors Abe Jones, Adrian Walker and Tra Smith finished 11th in 3:08.96.

Going into the meet, the team goal was to place as many athletes in the top eight of their events, which would earn them All-American honors, but the team couldn’t accomplish this goal.

“We had a little case of the nerves because this was a new experience for us,” said head coach Wayne Angel. “When I look back on it, this season was a great experience up until nationals. (Saturday) we learned what it takes to compete at the national level – mentally, physically and spiritually. We learned what success means at this level, but after this experience, we’ll do a lot better next time. They were baptized by fire, but I couldn’t ask anymore of them.”

The track team will open up the outdoor season in Palo Alto, Calif., in the Stanford Invitational on March 26.