The Illinois men’s track team came up short of its goal to finish in the top three, ending up in sixth place at the conclusion of the Big Ten Championships.

Sophomore Lesiba Masheto won the 400-meter with a time of 45.54. The Botswana native just missed eclipsing the track record of 45.48, but it was still enough to beat out Minnesota’s Aaron Buzzard, who came in at 45.80.

Masheto’s performance was one of few bright spots for the Illini, but head coach Wayne Angel was still encouraged by his team’s finish.

“I’m very proud of these guys,” Angel said in a press release. “We came up short of our goal, but w scratched and clawed and turned in some great performances all-around. Only 13 points separated third and sixth place so we were right there, there just wasn’t any margin for error.”

Wisconsin finished first overall, winning its fifth-strait outdoor championship with an overwhelming score of 145.5, 45 points higher than the second-place finisher (Minnesota, 100.5). Illinois finished with 81.5 points, 11 behind fifth-place Purdue. Michigan (third), Penn State (fourth) and Purdue were all within three points of each other.

Masheto was also on the 4×400-meter relay team that closed out the meet with a first-place finish. The team featured Adrian Walker, Tramell Smith and Paul Johnson as well.

Walker took home the only other Big Ten title, finishing first in the 400-meter hurdles.

Walker’s time of 50.29 shattered the old track record of 50.39 set over 25 years ago.

“Adrian finally put it together,” Angel said. “The last couple meets I thought he was going out too fast. The 400 hurdles are a rhythm race, and today he figured it out and relaxed. He won it easily.”

Smith finished second in the 800-meter with a season-best time of 1:48.85, while Nick Brown took home third place in the triple jump with a mark of 51’1.5″.

After finishing poorly in the indoor championships, Angel said he was happy to see his team step up last weekend.

“The guys wanted to redeem themselves after the 10th-place finish at indoors, and they certainly did that today,” Angel said. “I can’t say enough about our guys, they went out and competed today, and like I said, I’m extremely proud of them. We got our pride back and now we can focus on regionals and getting to nationals.”

Also grabbing points for the Illini were Nick Brown (third place, triple jump), Joey Hodges (fifth, 400 hurdles), Bryan Pratt (seventh, 110 hurdles), and Jason Bill and Trent Hoerr (seventh and eighth respectively, 5,000-meter). The 4×100 relay team of Pierre Bush, Hodges, Johnson and Anthony Young also garnered team points with its seventh-place finish.