Sprints/Hurdles/Relays Season Preview

Men's Track & Field December 27, 2016

Sprints/Hurdles/Relays Season Preview

With the 2017 season less than two weeks away, the Fighting Illini are primed to move back into the upper echelon of the Big Ten after winning the Big Ten outdoor title in 2015. Head Coach Mike Turk returns 26 of the 35 letterwinners from last season, including six who have earned All-America honors in their career, while also adding 12 newcomers that combined for 17 IHSA state championships between cross country and track and field in 2016. The Orange and Blue make their season debut at the Border Battle in Iowa City, Iowa on January 7. Today we look at the sprint, hurdle and relay groups heading into the 2017 season.

Hurdles

The Fighting Illini get one of the nation's beset hurdlers back in David Kendziera. After missing the 2016 season due to injury, the redshirt junior figures to be back at the top of the Big Ten and in the national conversation in the 110m and 400m hurdles. As a sophomore in 2015, Kendziera earned All-America honors in both hurdle events, including a third-place finish in the 400m hurdles with a personal-best time of 49.56. Since recovering last spring, Kendziera competed at Olympic Trials in the 400m hurdles in July and is primed to use that experience on the collegiate stage.

In addition to Kendziera, the Illini return Jonathan Wells and sophomore Isaiah Michl. At Indoor Big Ten Championships last season, Wells scored in the 60m hurdles with a time of 7.96 in prelims to move into the Illini top-10 list before redshirting during the outdoor season. Michl will look to build off of his freshman season when he finished 15^th in the 400m hurdles at the outdoor conference meet.

Sprints

Sprints and hurdles coach Adrian Wheatley brings back all of his sprinters from last season in addition to adding four freshmen, including two-time IHSA state champion.

The group is led by upperclassmen Kenneth Allen, Mo Maat and Matt Burns. The lone senior of the group, Allen brings back experience in the 400m, while Maat enters his junior season after entering the Illini top-10 list in both the 60m dash and 100m dash in addition to scoring points at Big Ten Outdoor Championships.

Joining the three upperclassmen will be second year Illini Devin Quinn and Joe Haight. A native of Punta Gorda, Florida, Quinn moved into the Illinois top-10 list in both the 60m (6.76) and 200m (21.20), and scored in both events at Big Ten Championships. Outdoors, Quinn again entered an Illini top-10 list, cracking the 100m rankings (10.42) and placing sixth at Big Ten Championships. Haight returns after running on last year's 4x100m relay team.

Finally, the Orange and Blue welcome Josh Eiker, Jordan Cagigal and Doug Wilson into the program this season. All hailing from the Land of Lincoln, the group combined to win four individual state titles in high school. Eiker leads the group with IHSA Class 3A titles in the 100m and 200m, owning the state record (20.83) in the latter of the two events. Cagigal joins the Illini after being named to the IHSA All-State team, while Wilson would have qualified for the 100m IHSA state final, if not for a disqualification in the semifinals.

Relays

Despite being banged up during the season, the Illini managed to score in both relays at Outdoor Big Ten Championships. In the 4x100m relay, Cole Henderson, Quinn, Haight and Allen placed sixth for the Illini. With all four legs returning along with a healthy Maat and four freshmen, the Orange and Blue are poised to again move forward in 2017.

The 4x400m relay should move back towards the top of the conference in 2016 with Kendziera returning from injury after helping break the school record at 2015 NCAA Indoor Championships and earning First Team All-American honors in the event later that spring. Allen also returns to the group from the record-breaking performance, while Burns will factor into the mix after helping the group score last season at Big Ten Outdoor Championships.

Also coming off a point-scoring performance at the conference meet last season, and the additions of Luke Brahm and Jon Davis, the distance medley relay should continue to get stronger with the growth of Coach Stewart's distance group. Garrett Lee and Konrad Eiring both return from the group, while Jesse Reiser helped the Illini place runner-up i at Drake Relays last May.