Illini track & field continues strong outdoor season in West Coast competitions
Senior Jess Streepy starts her attempt at the pole vault on Apr. 9, 2022 during the Illini Classic. No. 9 ranking track and field showed of a great performance at the Bryan Clay Invitational this weekend with a few athletes even breaking their personal records.
April 18, 2023
This past week, Illinois track and field competed in the Bryan Clay Invitational in South California and the Mount SAC relays.
On Wednesday, the first day of the Bryan Clay Invitational, junior Aiden Ouiment broke both his personal and school record for the decathlon event, including a first-place finish in the pole vault event.
After his stellar 1500-meter outing in Champaign, senior Colin Yandel placed 15th in the 10,000-meter event, finishing with a time of 30:14.18. The Illini came away with multiple solid performances yet again adding to the strong showings throughout this season.
Junior Tyler Sudduth won the discus event, throwing 56.13 meters, topping his previous performance at the Illini Challenge Meet.
Senior Kashief King broke a personal record in the 400-meter run, earning eighth in the event. His new personal record is 47.06 seconds.
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Junior Tyler Cushing placed 12th in his 10,000-meter run debut with a 29:55.89.
The men’s team performed well this past week; however, the women’s track and field squad had perhaps an even stronger performance as junior Olivia Howell ran the eighth-fastest 1500-meter run in the nation.
Senior Danni Stoughton had an excellent week of competing as she placed second in the 200-meter dash. She also placed 11th in the shot put, recording a new personal record of 10.41 meters. Stoughton was one of many strong performers at the Bryan Clay Invitational.
Junior Ayah Aldadah finished second in the 3,000-meter steeple chase with a finishing time of 10:20.84.
With the handful of strong performances this past week the Illini have climbed their way into the top 10 in the Midwest NCAA track and field rankings.
Illinois men’s track and field is ranked No. 9 in the Midwest division, behind Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota who are still all in the top four of the rankings. Illinois is barely behind North Dakota State. The Illini will look to beat out the Bison in the rankings this week.
Illinois women’ track and field is also currently ranked No. 9, behind the same Big Ten rivals in Nebraska, Minnesota and Iowa in the Midwest division. However, the team will look to gain ground on their rivals as they have the opportunity to surpass Minnesota and South Dakota in the Midwest rankings.
Both the men’s and women’s track and field programs look to continue their momentum heading into another home meet, as Demirijian Park will host the Gary Wieneke Memorial Meet on Friday and Saturday.
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