Fighting Illini Track and Field Flies to Gainesville for Florida Relays

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Illinois men’s and women’s track and field teams are set for their second meet of the outdoor season on March 29-30 for the Florida Relays in Gainesville, Fla.

Freshman Cody Johnston vaulted the program’s fourth-best mark in his first outdoor pole vault appearance, 5.50m (18-0 1/2), at the Hurricane Invitational. With this mark, he captured his first win of the outdoor season, and his mark ranks third in the nation for the early 2024 outdoor season.

Junior Halle Hill recorded the program’s fifth-fastest 3000m (9:28.75) on the first day of the Hurricane Invitational and followed it up with a win on day two in the 1500m (4:21.04), which currently ranks seventh in the nation.

Junior Phethisang Makhethe made her Illini debut in the hammer throw, in which she threw the program’s third-best mark, 59.41m (194-11). Two pole vaulters (junior Tori Thomas and sophomore Mia Morello) each cleared 4.20m (13-9 1/4), which is the eighth-best mark in the country thus far. For Morello, it was a new outdoor personal-best, and it is third in the Illini record book.

NATIONAL QUALIFIERS WATCH (TOP 16 PER EVENT)

WOMEN

#7 Halle Hill – 1500m (4:21.04)

#8 Mia Morello – pole vault, 4.20m (13-9 1/4)

#8 Tori Thomas – pole vault, 4.20m (13-9 1/4)

#11 Taylor Beard – high jump, 1.77m (5-9 3/4)

MEN

#3 Cody Johnston – pole vault, 5.50m (18-0 1/2)

#7 Robert Williams – 400mH (51.12)

#10 Jackson Marseille – high jump, 2.14m (7-0 1/4)

2024 Outdoor Program Top-10 Marks: Nine