As sophomore Lesiba Masheto rounded the last turn in the 800-meter run Sunday at the Illinois Invitational at the Illinois Track and Soccer Complex, the crowd began to chant, “Shoes, Shoes, Shoes.” With a time of 1:52.82, Shoes won the race by more than two seconds.

The crowd’s chant captured the essence of the only outdoor home meet for the Illinois men’s track team this year, as they came away with four first-place finishes and two regional qualifiers.

“It is encouraging when you have someone cheering your name,” Shoes said. “It is good to compete at home because you don’t need to travel long distances after the meet when you are tired.”

Behind Shoes were freshmen Brian Beaird, who finished in third place with a time of 1:55.36, and Scott Phelps, who finished in fourth place with a time of 1:55.71.

Freshman Joey Hodges surprised the crowd in the 400-meter hurdles, where he took first place by nearly half a second with a time of 52.79. Head coach Wayne Angel said that Hodges had a huge breakthrough, one not typical for a freshman.

Senior Tim Kelly later ran a 15:29.70 in the 5000-meter run, which garnered him a first-place finish.

In the 1500-meter run, the Illini took three of the top four spots. Senior Jason Bill snagged first place in 3:54.75, freshman Jacob Nachel took second in 3:56.39 and senior Maceij Sniegorski took fourth place in 3:58.53.

The Illini also had two regional qualifiers on Sunday. Senior Bryan Pratt took third place in the 110-meter hurdles with a regional-qualifying time of 14.30, while junior Nick Brown took second place in the long jump with a mark of 24’01.50″, also giving him a spot at regionals.

The 4×400-meter relay team, composed of Hodges, senior Tramell Smith, junior Paul Johnson and Shoes, capped off the meet with a second-place finish with a time of 3:14.54.

“It was windy and cold,” Shoes said. “But my focus was to go and run, just to do what the coach told me. I didn’t want to let him down.”

Overall, Angel said the team is doing much better outdoors compared to the indoor season.

“I felt that our performances were solid, and I felt that we still had quite a bit of work to do in a short period of time,” Angel said. “I am encouraged by the athletes’ desire to do better.”

Meanwhile, junior Trent Hoerr was suspended due to disciplinary reasons. Angel would not comment on Hoerr’s actions, but said that it was just a bad judgment call on Hoerr’s part.

Friday, Hoerr and Bill will travel to Eugene, Ore., to compete in the Oregon Invitational, while the rest of the Illini will compete in the 80th annual Kansas Relays in Lawerence, Kan., which begin on Thursday.