The distance medley relay squad of the Illinois men’s track and field team recorded a seventh-place finish at NCAA Championships in Fayetteville, Ark., to achieve All-America status. The relay team, led by seniors Kyle Engnell and Graham Morris and juniors Stephon Pamilton and Ryan Lynn, crossed the finish line with a time of 9 minutes, 35.56 seconds to earn All-American honors for the first time in each runner’s career.

“The DMR guys put together a very solid team effort, and I was extremely pleased with what I saw from them,” head coach Mike Turk said. “Each guy on that relay embraced their role and carried that role out well. We talked about this event for almost a year now, so it was great to see the work we put in for over a year pay off.”

The relay began with Engnell’s 2:57 split in the 1,200-meter leg, followed by Pamilton’s time of 46.53 in the 400-meter leg. Lynn ran the third leg with an 800-meter split of 1:50, while Morris finished the race with a 1,600m spilt of 4:01.

“Kyle got the relay started out strong out of the gate and put us in a decent position,” Morris said. “Stephon and Ryan followed up with solid legs of their own to help us close the gap and I just did what I’ve done all season in the mile to finish the relay strong.”

While the distance medley relay squad finished in the top eight to achieve the All-America honors, the 4×400-meter squad narrowly lost out on achieving the same status after the squad finished ninth. The relay crew finished .08 behind eighth-place finisher George Mason.

“We were all very disappointed that we were so close to that eighth-place spot but barely missed out on it,” Turk said. “We battled countless setbacks with the 4×400 all season and it was great to see them run so well. Unfortunately, things just went against us.”

The Illini relay squad of sophomore DJ Zahn, senior Malcolm Taylor, freshman Juan Paul Green and Pamilton clocked a time of 3:07.86, the second-fastest during the indoor season.

“We all thought we ran a solid race and put in strong legs, but it was just tough to fall short of the goal we set out to achieve at the start of the indoor season,” Taylor said. “Though we fell a bit short, we are excited to get back out for the outdoor season.”

Along with the Illini’s participation in the two relay events, the team also sent individual sprinters Vanier Joseph and Pamilton to compete in the 60-meter hurdles and 400-meter dash, respectively. Both failed to qualify for the finals in their respective events.

“Obviously, I would have loved to make it farther in the hurdles, but I just have to move on and prepare for the outdoor season, as I will be transitioning to a few different events along with the hurdles,” Joseph said. “I’m looking forward to improving upon my start, which is something that kept me from making it into the finals of the hurdles.”

Turk summed his thoughts on the individual performances, saying: “Honestly, we fell short of our goals with Vanier and Stephon, but we have high expectations for both of them, and no one here wants it any other way. There are plenty things both of them can improve upon, and they’ll continue to progress in next month or so.”

Dan can be reached at [email protected].