The Illinois Track and Field Club traveled to Millikin University on April 3rd for the Big Blue Invitational. This was the club’s first outdoor meet in over 2 years.
Field Events:
In the horizontal jumps, the furthest to jump takes the victory and for our jumpers, we had yet another successful day. In the long jump, Nicholas Hartmann was our furthest jumper, leaping 18’7.75. Finishing not too far off from him was James Lu, who had a busy day. He kicked it off though by jumping 16’0.25, claiming a top 10 finish. On the women’s side, Maria Koneva was our lone entry. Out of 3 jumps her best on the day was 13’11.75, knocking right on the door of the 14 ft threshold.
Nicholas Hartmann was a man on a mission in the jumps. He was our lone entry in the men’s triple jump, going the distance by jumping a 39’9.75. His day would not end there though as he capped off a triple jumped day by returning to his main event the high jump. His best jump on the day was 5’10.5. James Lu continued a busy day all around by also competing in the high jump. He jumped a 4’11.75 and took home a top-10 finish.
Moving on to the throws event we had two great throwers make their way to the rings this week. On the men’s side veteran Shantanu Amin kicked his day off by competing in both the discus and the shot. He took home top-10 finishes in both events, coming up big throwing 21’5.25 in the shot put and 64’6 in the discus. On the lady’s side of things, Jenna Homan had quite the day. In the shot put she had a top 10 finish overall by throwing a 26’8.25. This performance was already fantastic enough but what Jenna did in the discus ring will go down in club history. Jenna Homan shattered the old club discus record. She threw a distance of 104’7 feet, got a top 5 finish and a club record all in one day. I have a feeling that she will continue to break that record over and over and over again!
Track Events:
Kicking off the meet for the running Illini was a strong cohort of 1500 meter runners. Clare Oehler-O’Sullivan crossed the line first on the women’s side, dropping an impressive 5:30.51. Finishing not too far behind Clare was Grace McDonough running a 5:37.32. Then rounding out the event for the ladies was Natalie Maguire running a strong 6:24.36. The men looked to continue a successful day for the distance crew and did just that. Crossing the line first in the men’s 1500 was distance coach Josh Mollway in a speedy time of 4:06.73 which was good enough for a top 5 finish in the meet. Home Meet Coordinator Cade Baker was next to cross the line for the Illini running a 4:28.10 and placing 3rd in his section. In the same section Jason Palafox and Lucas Dion finished right next to each other taking 8th and 9th and running 4:34.32 and 4:39.98 respectively. Rounding out the event for the Illini was Jacob Rubin running an impressive time of 5:02.44 while being the lone runner for the orange and blue in his heat.
Moving into some shorter distances we saw some stellar performances in the women’s 100m and men’s 110m hurdle events. Our duo of Maria Koneva and Maria Becerra finished neck and neck in the event running a 20.03 and 20.41 respectively. On the men’s side, we only had one competitor in the field. Josh James ran a 15.64 which was good enough for 2nd overall in the event and not too far off from the club record.
Moving on to the next event of the day the 400-meter dash. On the lady’s side of things, we had the most entries of any team in the field and they did not disappoint. Finishing first for the Illini was Freshman Leah Murray who ran a quick 1:04.02 which got her 4th place overall in the event. Crossing the line next was Leah’s twin sister, Sam Murray at a time of 1:04.94. Our president Ciara Ward crossed the line next, running a speedy time of 1:07.79. Rounding out the event for the women was Annie Brunton, who came in first in her heat, running a 1:08.71. On the men’s side, we had one entry. Veteran Mason Rosenberg kicked his comeback season off running an impressive 53.91, taking home 6th overall in the event.
Moving onto the shortest event of the day we have the 100m dash. We had a good combination of Freshman and Veteran men in the field. In section 2 we saw second-year athlete Adam Adil continue his stellar season, clocking in a time of 11.25 and claiming top 3 in the event. Finishing right next to Adam in 4th place overall was Freshman Jimmy Hoffman running a time of 11.42. In the next section of the 100m dash, Andre Elis Jr. took off, getting 2nd in his heat and running an 11.65. Finishing right behind Andre was the freshman duo of Joe Lian and James Lu. Taking home 8th and 9th while running 12.16 and 12.36 respectively. Rounding out the field for the running Illini was our all-around veteran Shantanu Amin, running a season opener of 15.67.
The next group to make their way to the track was our always strong mid-d squad for the 800m dash. The first to cross the line for the women’s side was Katherine Vande Pol, clocking in a speedy time of 2:18.39 which was good enough for 3rd overall in the event. Section 2 was filled with Illini ladies. Leading the way for us was Wilma Rishko who ran a quick 2:46.52 to kick things off for us. Next to cross the line was Annie Brunton running a blazing time of 2:48.16. The always strong Angela Wu finished right after running a 2:51.74. Rounding out the event for mid-d was Emily Karnuth running a 2:57.39. Standing by while the ladies took care of business was our lone male in the field Henry Hornbrook. Henry went out and put down a 2:07.70 and claimed a top 3 finish to go along with it.
“Hurdles back on the track!” In one of the most technical events of the day, Josh James returned to the track for the 400m hurdles. Josh clinched another top-5 finish on the day, running a time of 1:01.29.
In the 200m dash, the sprints squad looked to continue on an already strong day. On the women’s side, Freshman Rachel Sakwa ran a speedy time of 29.03. In the very next heat, Maria Becerra ran a time of 29.80, recovering well from her earlier hurdles race. The men looked to continue with the success as they headed to the track. After being the second sprinter to cross the line for us in the 100m dash, Freshman Jimmy Hoffman kicked things off by running a 22.67 and taking home 3rd overall. Speedster Adam Adil also joined the sub 23 party by running a 22.96. Rounding out things in section 1 was Andre Elis Jr, continuing a strong day by running a 24.02. Joe Lian took care of business by himself in the following heat by sprinting a 25.11, good enough for a 3rd place finish in his heat.
12.5 laps around the track. For most of us that seems like an impossible feat, for Grace Gudwien it’s just another day at the office. Grace was our lone entry in the 5000m run and she ran a dominant 19:38.53, taking home 5th overall in the event.
Rounding out the day on the track was the infamous 4x400m dash, an event that allows event groups to mix up and put down some fast times. On the women’s side of things, we had 3 relay entries. Our “A” squad consisting of Sam Murray, Leah Murray, Tati Montanez, and Katherine Vande Pol took home 2nd overall and ran a 4:18.00 flat. Crossing the line next was our” B” squad of Ciara Ward, Maggie Abbs, Annie Brunton, and Rachel Sakwa who pulled off a top-5 finish in the event and ran a 4:33.73. Finishing the day off for the ladies was our “C” squad. The squad made up of Grace McDonough, Angela Wu, Wilma Rishko and Emily Karnuth ran a time of 5:07.22 easily. On the men’s side, the “A” squad made up of Josh Mollway, Adam Adil, Jimmy Hoffman, and Henry Hornbrook were champions in the event taking home first, running a time of 3:36.86. The “B” squad also ran a top-3 time of the day. Jason Palafox, Cade Baker, Andre Ellis, and Mason Rosenberg finished up the day for us by running a 3:56.57 bidding Decatur a goodbye.
Official Results: http://results.tfmeetpro.com/Illinois_Prep_Top_Timing/2021_Big_Blue_Alumni_Invite/index.html
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