After a disappointing first day on Saturday, the men bounced back on Sunday to capture a third-place finish at the Big Ten Indoor Championships in Iowa City, Iowa. Illinois finished only one point behind second-place Minnesota, while Wisconsin placed first marking its sixth consecutive Big Ten Indoor Championship title.

Senior sprinter Tramell Smith, seeded first in the Big Ten in the 600-meter run, took home Illinois’ first gold medal of the day after running a 1:17.22 to place first.

Before the race, there was a lot of talk about the matchup of Smith from Illinois and Aaron Buzard from Minnesota. Smith put that talk to rest as he edged out Buzard by a mere .01 of a second to take a first place and set a new track record at the University of Iowa Recreation Building.

“I didn’t want to get caught up in the buzz surrounding the race,” Smith said. “I looked at it like a time trial and had my goals to reach certain times in certain places, and that’s what I did. We had a couple people fall down that first day, but overall with the circumstances, we did good as a team and really gave a 100 percent effort”

Junior Jeremy Kruidenier placed fifth in the 600 with a personal-best time of 1:19.14.

Freshman Dominique Worsley led Illinois in the sprints, placing second in both the 60-meter dash and the 200-meter dash. Worsley tied his personal-best in the 60-meter with a 6.75, and ran a provisional qualifying time of 21.31 in the 200-meter dash.

“Dominique is a tough freshman,” head coach Wayne Angel said. “He really steps it up where he needs to.”

Rounding out the sprint squad, junior Nathan Vadeboncouer posted a 47.77 in the 400-meter, good for second place. Fellow Illini Adrian Walker placed sixth in the race with a time of 48.70.

In the field, sophomore Nick Brown set a new personal record in the triple jump. Brown jumped 50’04.00″ to take second place, more than three inches further than his previous best jump of 50’00.50″. Senior Charley Kurlinkus also contributed on the field with a high jump of 6’09.75″ (2.08m) to place sixth.

The staple of the Illinois squad did not disappoint. The 4X400 meter relay team of Abe Jones, Vadeboncouer, Adrian Walker and Smith took first place. Their combined time of 3:12.05 was more than one second faster than Minnesota, who placed second with a time of 3:13.76.

“It was exciting to finish like that,” said Angel. “Each year we keep getting better and better and we are consistent. It’s only a matter of time before we bring home that Championship.”