The finale for the 2022 track & field season has arrived and two Illini will join the field of the country’s best collegiate track athletes. Junior Olivia Howell and graduate student Jon Davis were the clear favorites on the Illinois rosters to make the NCAA Championships, and they did not disappoint. The speedy duo will be racing at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore., from June 8-11 where they will attempt to improve on their final NCAA placement from the indoor season.

Davis and Howell have each competed in an outdoor NCAA championship meet before, 2017 for Davis and 2021 for Howell. Davis placed 16th in 2017 but he bumped that up to fourth in the indoor mile, which is around where he would like to finish once again. Howell placed 10th just one season ago, but she has progressed every season, finishing fifth in the indoor mile and finished third overall at regionals to earn her spot this week.

The first runner in action will be Davis as the men’s 1500m semifinals will be raced on Wednesday at 4:46 PM Pacific Time.

The women’s 1500m semifinals will be on day two at 5:46 p.m. Pacific Time as the days are split between the men and the women.

Each semifinal will split into heats for all of the runners to compete. Davis will be the eighth runner in heat one after finishing with the 19th fastest time in regionals. Howell is the 12th runner in heat two for the women as the junior had the 16th fastest time in the western regionals.

Davis’s final is at 6:12 p.m. on Friday followed by Howell wrapping up her season Saturday afternoon at 2:41 p.m. as both Illini will look to improve on their times from Arkansas.

Meet coverage will be broadcast on ESPN and ESPNU and live updates can be found here.

@benfader7

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