As the men’s triple jump was wrapping up on the final day of the Illini Challenge, the silence in the Armory was broken by the piercing shrill of the fire alarm. What set it off? It just might have been the Illinois track and field team’s continuing hot streak.
The team set two program records, won nearly 70% of events in which they had entries and recorded 17 personal bests over the weekend.
Fifth-year senior Aiden Ouimet had the best performance of the meet. He shattered the program’s heptathlon record by scoring 5,985 points over the weekend. That mark currently sits at number two on this season’s NCAA leaderboard and represents the fourth-best heptathlon score in the entire world for the current season.
Despite all of this, Ouimet finished second at the Illini Challenge. Illinois assistant coach Ken Mullings, competing unattached, registered this season’s best heptathlon with a world-leading score of 6,340. Mullings won every single heptathlon event except for the 1,000-meter, in which Ouimet crossed the finish line more than two seconds ahead of the rest of the field.
Freshman Rose Yeboah set a new program record in the women’s high jump with a height of 1.88 meters, which is currently the fifth-best NCAA mark this season. That same day, fellow freshman Elizabeth Ndudi recorded a new Armory record for the women’s long jump with a distance of 6.41 meters. Ndudi also qualified for the women’s 60-meter finals, where she finished third (7.51).
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Senior Tyler Sudduth won both the men’s shot put and weight throw, bringing his win total on the year to five. Sudduth currently has this season’s NCAA-leading weight throw distance of 23.14 meters, which he recorded at last week’s Larry Wieczorek Invitational.
Graduate student Amber Simpson finished first in the women’s weight throw for the second meet in a row. Simpson had broken the program’s weight throw record at all three previous meets this season, raising the bar first to 20.31 meters, then to 21.91 meters and finally to 21.94 meters last week, which is currently tied for the eighth-farthest throw in the NCAA this season.
Junior Tori Thomas continued her winning streak in the women’s pole vault and almost set a new program record in the process. Thomas has won the pole vault at all four meets this season. Thomas’ mark of 4.36 meters was nearly matched by sophomore Mia Morello, who finished second and set a personal best of 4.27 meters.
In the men’s high jump, junior Jackson Marseille led the pack with a personal-best distance of 2.14 meters. Marseille was one of the four Illini to finish in the top five for the event. He was joined by junior Kam Garrett (2.14m), junior CJ Shoaf (1.99m) and senior Alex Babbington (1.99m) atop the leaderboard.
Illini also packed the leaderboards of both 3,000-meter races. Freshman Avril Andre (10:04.30) won the women’s race by over 13 seconds while her teammates — freshman Mabry Bruhn (10:17.63), junior Amalia Malecek (10:19.07), senior Breena Shreeves (10:20.17) and freshman Isabella Daley (10:32.23) — took spots two, three, four and seven, respectively.
Sophomore Alex Partlow, just two months removed from a top-50 finish at the NCAA cross country regionals, placed first in the men’s 3,000-meter, recording a time of 8:28.61. Junior Evan Cummins (8:33.59) was right behind him, while senior Tyler Cushing (8:35.21) took fourth. Partlow and Cummins’ times represent personal bests.
Illini grabbed the top spots in both 600-meter races, with junior Jessica McDowell (1:29.81) setting a personal best and taking first in the women’s race and sophomores Ashley Oliver (1:36.35) in second and Madison Hardamon (1:37.47) in third. Senior Robert Williams won the men’s 600-meter with a time of 1:20.40.
Despite the fire alarm, sophomore Viktor Morozov ended the meet by winning the men’s triple jump with over a meter separating him from the second-place finisher. Morozov’s distance of 15.87 meters is currently the 11th-best in the NCAA this season.
The No. 1 ranked women’s team and the No. 10 ranked men’s team will travel to South Bend, Indiana, this coming weekend for the Meyo Invitational — the penultimate meet before the Big Ten indoor championships.
