CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Fighting Illini men’s and women’s track and field teams are set to travel out to Geneva, Ohio for the Big Ten Championships on Fri.-Sat. Feb. 24-25. Recently at the Don Kirby Elite Invitational the men’s 4×400 team (Jason Thormo, Kashief King, Robert Williams, Tadeas Placek – 3:06.77) and the women’s 4×400 team (Jessica McDowell, Danni Stoughton, Olivia Howell, Madison Hardamon – 3:37.72) ran some of the fastest times the program has seen in years.
McDowell (52.47) and Howell (2:04.03) also recorded the school’s second best 400m and 800m dashes respectively at the same meet. Bret Dannis logged the school’s third best 60m hurdles (7.74) and Tori Thomas vaulted the second-best mark, 4.21m (13-9 3/4). Azariyah Bryant sprinted the school’s seventh-best 200m at 23.79.
Plenty of other Illini have recorded school top-10 marks this indoor season. Tyler Sudduth tossed the second furthest Illinois weight throw at the Meyo Invitational, 22.69m (74-5 1/2). At the same meet Emma Milburn moved up to third all-time for the 3000m (9:20.28).
Newcomer Viktor Morozov leaped Illinois seventh-best triple jump at the Illini Challenge, 15.93m (52-3 1/4), in only his second meet. Aiden Ouimet scored the third-best heptathlon in the record book with 5,494 points.
24 total new or improved top-10 program marks were set throughout indoor season. A testament to what first year Director of Track, Field and Cross Country Petros Kyprianou intends to accomplish here at Illinois. This is only the beginning as Kyprianou is excited to see what his team can accomplish in the postseason.
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