Facing its toughest competition yet in the outdoor season, the Illinois men’s track and field team was led by a title-winning performance by the 1600-meter relay squad at the Tiger Track Classic in Auburn, Ala. Overall, the Illini took home four event titles — the most of any team at the event.
The 4×400 relay crew of sophomore DJ Zahn, freshmen Cam Viney and Juan Paul Green and junior Stephon Pamilton won its second title in as many weeks, finishing with in 3 minutes, 7 seconds — besting last week’s mark by nearly nine seconds. The relay squad ran past a slew of top-level teams such as Big Ten rival Purdue, Clemson and No. 7 Auburn. The relay’s finishing time was more than three seconds ahead of second place Purdue.
“All four guys in the 4×4 came ready to compete, and each one did their part,” head coach Mike Turk said. “Coming off the indoor nationals, we didn’t know where they were, but they’re in a very good spot right now.”
This was the first time the four runners had raced together since the NCAA Indoor Nationals in March. Turk said the lineup that ran over the weekend is the lineup he expects to run out for the remainder of the season.
“The four of us hadn’t run together since indoors, and we were thinking it would take a few meets to get back into a groove,” Zahn said. “It all came together nicely, and we were able to put together a really good time in our first run together in over a month.”
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The Illini also took home titles in two long-distance events; the 5000 meters and the 3000-meter steeplechase. Senior Jannis Toepfer took home his second title of the outdoor season with a first-place finish in the steeplechase. Toepfer crossed the finish line with a time of 8:54.48 — the ninth fastest time in school history.
Redshirt freshman Ian Barnett won his first outdoor season title in the 5000 with a time of 13:58.79. Barnett’s time was the fifth fastest in school history and the first top-10 finish for an Illinois runner in the event since 2007. The event was Barnett’s first after coming off a leg injury, which he sustained during the cross-country season.
“I was just looking to get back on track and used to running outdoors again after my injury, and I’m glad that everything worked out well, and I ran a solid race,” he said.
Senior Ryan Lynn raced to a title in the 800 meters with a time of 1:49.08, handing Illinois its final title of the weekend. The title was Lynn’s second of the outdoor season.
“Ryan is setting himself up for something special by the end of the season,” Turk said. “He dominated in the 800, and the amazing thing was that he told me afterwards that it was too easy of a race for him.”
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