Once or twice a week, sophomore Andrew Riley practices the long jump, just for fun. In order to maximize on Riley’s talent, Illinois men’s track and field team interim head coach Mike Turk put Riley in the long jump at the Carle-Health Alliance Classic on Saturday at the Armory, despite the fact that the sophomore has never competed in the event as an Illini.

The result? A 7.09-meter, event-winning bound, leading the way for the Illini, who won the meet by 180 points.

Overall, the Illini scored 284 points. Pittsburgh was second with 104 points, followed by Western Kentucky, which had 77 points.

“Riley is a phenomenal athlete,” Turk said. “We gave him a choice for what events and how many he wanted to do, and he really showed us something.”

In addition to the long jump, Riley competed in the 60-meter hurdles and the 60-meter dash. He was victorious in both, with times of 7.91 seconds and a personal-best 6.81 seconds, respectively.

“Today was a pretty good day for me,” the Kingston, Jamaica, native said. “With the long jump, I just sometimes go to practice and play around with it. I don’t take it that serious. I’ll put more practice in the long jump and hopefully get better.”

While Riley was impressive, the day belonged to junior Matt McHugh, who surpassed the Illinois school record in the weight throw, exceeding the previous record of 18.38 meters with a mark of 19.27 meters. McHugh’s performance on Saturday made him the holder of both the indoor weight throw record and the outdoor hammer throw school record, set last season at the Illinois Invitational.

“All in all, I broke two barriers,” McHugh said. “I broke a school record that I have been waiting to do for a couple of years. It was also great to get so close to my season goal so early into the season. Originally, I wanted to throw for 65 feet by the (Big Ten Championships). Now, I’m hoping to throw for 67 feet and to get up into the top three at the (Big Ten Championships).”

The Armory belonged to senior Greg Shroka in the high jump at one point Saturday, as fans cheered on each of his three attempts as he looked to improve on his personal best jump of 2.14 meters set on Jan. 9. On his first attempt, it appeared that he had achieved his goal, when he was able stand on the mat before the bar fell. He barely knocked down the bar in his second attempt, as well, before scratching in his final attempt to clear the 2.18-meter bar.

“Normally, my thought process is that if I’m able to roll over and stand up and the bar is still there, it’s not gonna fall, but I guess my jump wasn’t good enough,” Shroka said. “My third approach was too tight, and I tried to stop myself, but my momentum was too strong. I know I can (improve on my personal best), it just has to happen. It’s a lot easier to correct my form than jump higher.”

For the meet, the Orange and Blue won 10 individual event titles. Joining Riley, Shroka and McHugh were two freshmen, two juniors and two seniors.

“Guys like Riley and Shroka are our marquee guys, and Matt (McHugh) crushed the record in the weight throw, but we got a team full of a bunch of gems. You can’t begin to count the number of personal bests we had,” Turk said. “I was a little nervous because when you have a meet the week after a break you can get into a bit of a lull, but we made a big step forward. I’m really pleased with what a lot of people did.”

Illinois’ next meet is on Jan. 30, when they will compete at the Illinois Intercollegiates in Charleston, Ill.