Happy Halloween! While many Illini are out partying to celebrate the holiday, Big Ten athletes across the country are trembling. It’s been a solid year for Illinois athletics, and many players have emerged to lead their respective teams.
Whether it’s a defensive lineman jumping around the corner or a sprinter that you just can’t escape, the Illini have their fair share of frightening characters. Here are the Illini who strike fear into their opponents’ hearts and appear in every athlete’s nightmare across the conference.
Cook may not have the height of a typical scary character, but her shooting abilities and overall athleticism certainly don’t hold her back. As an Illini, she’s averaging 17.3 points, 3.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game.
The 5-foot-6 fifth-year guard brings spine-chilling energy to State Farm Center, especially when she finds her rhythm. She’s sneaky with her steals on defense and effortless with her work on offense. She is not a player teams look forward to competing against.
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Junior outside linebacker Gabe Jacas has been a monster for Illini football this year. Standing at 6-foot-3 and weighing 275 pounds, he has unleashed terror upon opposing teams’ offenses with his size, stealth and physicality.
He’s recorded numerous tackles-for-losses so far and has already accounted for more sacks this season than in previous years. He’s hard to block and hard to escape: exactly the type of player the Illini needed this season.
Miyoshi debuted at No. 42 in the preseason singles rankings and has been terrorizing college tennis throughout the fall season. This junior from Kawasaki, Japan is 10-4 in singles this season with marquee wins over No. 13-ranked Sebastian Dominko, No. 37-ranked Pedro Vives and No. 70-ranked Alexander Bernard.
A particularly dominant run at the ITA Midwest Regional Championship also earned Miyoshi a spot in the NCAA Singles Championships. Ten sets was all it took for Miyoshi to go from the first round of 64 players to the finals, clinching a bid to the late November championships without losing a single set.
This senior out of Fishers, IN is not someone you would want chasing you through a haunted house. Hill runs year-round as a member of both the cross-country and track teams. She holds Illinois’ second-best 5000m ever and played a big part in the program’s first-place finish at the 2024 Big Ten Indoor Championships.
The most frightening part about Hill is her stamina: she does not get burnt by a fast start. When her Illini career is all said and done, the rest of the Big Ten can exhale, knowing Hill won’t be creeping up on them anymore.
