CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Director of Illinois track, field and cross country Petros Kyprianou announced the addition of All-American Rafael Raap from Oregon on Wednesday (June 26). The sophomore Raap earned his first-career All-America honors at the 2024 NCAA Outdoor Championships in the decathlon (sixth, 7,842 points).
The Arnhem, Netherlands native was the 2024 Pac 12 Champion in the decathlon winning the conference’s final crown this year before Oregon joins the Big Ten beginning in the 2024-25 season. His personal-best heptathlon of 5,907 points would rank second in Illinois program history behind Aiden Ouimet’s historic 6,120 points at the Big Ten Indoor Championships this past season. Raap’s decathlon personal-best (7,842 points) would best Ouimet’s 7,794 school record set this season.
Raap joins a star-studded combined events crew that Kyprianou continues to assemble this offseason with two women additions already in All-American transfer from Rice University Eliza Kraule and top-ranked freshman JaiCieonna Gero-Holt.
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