After seemingly weeks of overcast skies and intermittent rain, the clouds over Champaign finally parted this weekend, just in time for the second-ever Gary Wieneke Memorial.
Demirjian Park was a carnival of noise, especially during the end of the high jump, when just three athletes — Purdue’s Bode Gilkerson and Illinois juniors Kam Garrett and C.J. Shoaf — were vying to clear 2.16 meters.
“It was a great atmosphere,” said Shoaf. “The band was playing, we had a lot of people, and I was asking for claps on those 2.16s. It was getting loud.”
After already setting a new outdoor personal best at 2.11 meters, Shoaf had failed to clear 2.16 meters on his first two tries. Now, with the whole crowd behind him, he broke into a sprint for his final attempt. He flopped over the bar and looked to the official, only to see them holding a red flag. He had struck the bar down with his foot. Garrett, with the least attempts taken, was declared the winner. Shoaf placed third and is now the sole owner of the 10th-best mark in program history.
“That’s a bar (2.11m) I’ve only gotten over once this year, so I really wanted to get over that today and get a regional markdown,” said Shoaf. “I knew I was just going for PRs from there, so it felt really good to get over it and know that I’m locked in for the rest of the season.”
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Shoaf was far from the only Illini to impress today. Senior Tyler Sudduth had a busy day, competing in three events. Sudduth won the first event of the day, the shot put, with a personal-best heave of 19.85 meters, ranking fifth nationally and second in program history. Sudduth then went over to the discus, where he placed fifth (52.16m) before heading over to the hammer throw, where he set another personal best, 60.90 meters, which earned him third.
Freshman Cody Johnston won his third outdoor meet in as many tries this season. Johnston and Indiana State’s William Staggs were the only competitors to reach 5.55 meters, a bar that Johnston cleared on his first try. Staggs, meanwhile, failed in all three of his attempts. The next height, 5.69 meters, would have moved Johnston to third nationally. Despite the raucous crowd, Johnston, much like Shoaf, came up just short. Johnston will have to remain content with his fourth-best national height for the time being.
On the trackside, a whopping seven Illini competed in the 1500 meter, with six placing inside the top 15, including three in the top five. Senior William Merrick finished first (3:46.75) with a new personal best, while freshman Kyle Clark took fourth (3:47.95).
Merrick, along with freshman Jackson Gilbert, sophomore Tadeas Placek and senior Robert Williams, formed the 4×400 meter team that set a season-best of 3:10.71 on their way to a first-place finish.
Gary Wieneke was known as the “Einstein of the 800 meter,” so it’s fitting that the Illini performed well in that event. Junior Nicolas Dovalovsky took the gold with a time of 1:50.95, over two seconds ahead of the competition. Sophomore Brady Masters set a new personal best while taking sixth (1:56.15), and senior Will O’Brien was just behind him in eighth (1:56.36).
It’s a quick turnout for the team ahead of their next meet, the Mt. SAC Relays, which are set to begin Wednesday and run through Saturday.
