CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Fighting Illini men’s and women’s track and field teams completed the Illini Challenge at the UI Armory on Saturday, Jan. 27.
1,211 fans in attendance today saw senior Aiden Ouimet obliterate the heptathlon program record today by nearly 200 points, he placed second in today’s competition with 5,985 points. He’s now the national leader in the NCAA for 2024 by over 300 points even before conversions are applied. His converted score for 200m flat track is 6,011 points.
Conversions don’t count towards school records, or any top-10 program marks. They’re only used to level the playing field for NCAA Indoor Championships qualifications for flat track athletes. The previous record was 5,786 points held by All-American Jonathan Wells which he set back in 2017.
“This was another solid weekend for our crews, both men and women,” said director of track and field/cross country Petros Kyprianou. “We’re trying to continue this momentum we started since the beginning of January. I’m proud of the usual suspects being consistent, but also some new faces popping up setting school records or personal bests like Mia Morello in the pole vault.’
‘The highlights this weekend I would say were Aiden Ouimet and Rose Yeboah. Aiden had a massive school record in the heptathlon and Rose broke the 25-year-old high jump record. That was refreshing and new for us. As we’re approaching the postseason it’s nice to know that everybody’s still true to our mission, goals, and expectations.”
Assistant coach Ken Mullings competed unattached in the heptathlon this weekend and walked away victorious with 6,340 points. This is currently the world leading heptathlon score for the 2024 indoor season and his training partner, Ouimet, is right behind him in second.
Tori Thomas collected her fourth-straight win in the pole vault, 4.36m (14-3 1/2). Sophomore Mia Morello raised her third-best mark in program history to 4.27m (14-0) in her second-place finish today.
Senior Tyler Sudduth won today’s shot put, 18.75m (61-6 1/4), taking the crown in both home meets this season. Senior Will Rezny pushed himself up to seventh in the shot put record book, 18.30m (60-0 1/2), placing second in today’s competition.
Sophomore Viktor Morozov leapt to triple jump gold, 15.87m (52-0 3/4), and sophomore Alex Partlow cruised to…
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