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Men's Track
Masheto Wins Sixth Career Big Ten Title
May 17, 2009 COLUMBUS, Ohio - Senior Gakologelwang Masheto was the star for the Illinois men's track and field team at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships on Sunday, winning his sixth career conference title at Ohio State's Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium. Minnesota cruised to the team title, scoring 130 points and running away from the competition early in the day. Host Ohio State was second with 103 points, while Michigan was third (100). The Illini took ninth with 60 points, 18 of which were scored by Masheto. "We battled very hard and did the best we could," head coach Wayne Angel said. "We came up short in some areas and didn't score as many points as we thought we could. There were definitely some shining moments, with Masheto, Cody Wisslead and both relays, but the bottom line is we didn't reach our goals and are disappointed." Masheto won the 400 meters for the second time in his career at the outdoor championships, timing 46.24 to take the title and edge out Ohio State freshman Thomas Murdaugh by 0.02 seconds. Masheto was able to take his place at the top of the podium again in the 400 meters after taking second in the event at the 2008 Big Ten Outdoor Championships. He has also won 400m titles at the outdoor championships in 2007 and the indoor championships in 2008 and 2009. The Botswana native's performance on Sunday marked his season-best in the 400m as he heads to the regional championships. Masheto also won a medal in the 200 meters where he took third in a time of 21.09, just 0.04 seconds off his personal-best in the event which he set in preliminaries the day before. Michigan's Adam Harris won the 200m title in a time of 20.78. Both Illini relays finished runner-up, as the 4x100m relay of Andrew Riley, Stanley Azie, Wisslead and Azeez Shogbuyi led off the meet by taking second in a time of 40.63. That performance was a season-best for the foursome as they hit the regional qualifying standard for the first time this season. Ohio State won the 4x100m in a time of 40.66. The last race of the meet was almost too close to call, as the Illini 4x400m relay of Yawusa Kinda, Gary Miller, Dan Jones and Masheto finished second by 0.07 seconds with a time of 3:09.68. Again, Ohio State edged out the Orange and Blue, winning with a time of 3:09.61. A pair of Illini hurdlers turned in fourth-place finishes, as Wisslead was fourth in the 400m hurdles with a personal-best time of 51.48 and Riley was fourth in the 110m hurdles in a performance of 14.29. Wisslead now ranks ninth in his event on the Illinois all-time performance list, also bettering his regional and national rankings for this season. Junior Casey Fonnesbeck turned in his personal-best performance at a Big Ten Championships, placing sixth in the shot put with a personal-best distance of 57-3 3/4.
In the 100m, Shogbuyi scored three points for the Illini by placing sixth in a time of 10.74, while junior Mike Murray stepped up to take sixth in the 1,500m (4:00.56). Illinois had a few athletes who just missed the scoring column, as Azie was ninth in the 200m (21.59), junior Brian Beaird was ninth in the 800m (1:52.04) and senior Andrew Zollner tied for ninth in the pole vault. The Big Ten Outdoor Championships will air tape-delayed on the Big Ten Network on Sunday, May 24 at 3 p.m. CT. Illinois has next weekend off from competition to prepare for the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships in Louisville, Ky. from May 29-30.
Illinois Sunday Results at Big Ten Outdoor Championships
100m (FINAL)
200m (FINAL)
400m (FINAL)
800 (FINAL)
1,500m (FINAL)
5,000m (FINAL)
110m Hurdles (FINAL)
400m Hurdles (FINAL)
4x100m Relay (FINAL)
4x400m Relay (FINAL)
Pole Vault (FINAL)
Shot Put (FINAL)
Triple Jump (FINAL)
Javelin (FINAL)
Big Ten Outdoor Championships Men's Final Team Standings |
