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Senior Cody Wisslead was one of five Illini to collect first-team All-Big Ten honors.
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May 18, 2011
PARK RIDGE, Ill. - Five members of the Illinois men's track and field team collected first-team All-Big Ten honors following their victories at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships, announced the conference office Wednesday. Junior Andrew Riley won his second-straight Big Ten title in the 110m hurdles and led off the winning 4x100m relay of senior Azeez Shogbuyi, sophomore Josh Zinzer and junior Stanley Azie while senior Cody Wisslead tallied his first career conference championship in the 400m hurdles.
Riley, a six-time All-Big Ten recipient, won his sixth career individual Big Ten title and repeated as the conference champion in the 110m hurdles following a season-best time of 13.49 in the event. The Kingston, Jamaica, native ran the opening leg of the 4x100m relay, which timed 39.90 and captured the Big Ten crown in the event for the first time since 1997. Shogbuyi and Azie picked up first-team honors on the relay for the first time after tallying second-team honors the past two seasons as part of the Big Ten's runner-up relay. Zinzer became an All-Big Ten selection for the first time in his career.
Wisslead, a three-time All-Big Ten selection, garnered first-team honors for the first time in his career. The Sciota, Ill., native crossed the finish line first with a season-best mark of 50.55, making him the 10th Big Ten champion in the 400m hurdles in school history. His previous All-Big Ten accolades both came in 2009 as part of the runner-up indoor 4x400m relay and outdoor 4x100m relay.
Azie also scored the most individual points for the team with 16 and picked up a pair of silver medals for his stellar performances in the sprints on Iowa's Cretzmeyer Track. The Bolingbrook, Ill., native's personal-best times of 10.20 in the 100m and 20.70 in the 200m placed him second on Illinois' all-time lists behind only 100m and 200m school-record holder Anthony Jones (10.10, 20.62).
Other outdoor track and field awards announced by the Big Ten included Iowa's Justin Austin picking up Track Athlete of the Year as well and Track Athlete of the Championships and Ohio State's Michael Hartfield being named Field Athlete of the Year as well as Field Athlete of the Championships. The coaches selected Wisconsin's Reed Connor as Freshman of the Year, while Iowa's Larry Wieczorek was named Coach of the Year after guiding the Hawkeyes to the Big Ten title.
The conference office also announced honorees from each team for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award, with Zinzer being selected from Illinois. The 20 student-athletes chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. In addition, the student-athletes must be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. These student-athletes are now candidates for the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award, as the conference office will honor one male and one female student-athlete from each institution at the end of the school year.
All of the Illini's Big Ten honorees will head to Eugene, Ore., for the NCAA West Preliminary Round of Championship from May 26-28. Last season, the NCAA eliminated the four-region system and replaced it with two preliminary sites of competition. Instead of a hard-line performance standard to qualify, an absolute, field-size cut-off per event was instituted. The top 48 per region, that declare, in each individual event and the top 24 relays per region, that declare, will compete at the preliminary sites. Entries into the championship field will be announced on Thursday, May 19.
2011 Big Ten Men's Outdoor Individual Honors
Track Athlete of the Year
Justin Austin, IOWA
Field Athlete of the Year
Michael Hartfield, OSU
Freshman of the Year
Reed Connor, WIS
Track Athlete of the Championships
Justin Austin, IOWA
Field Athlete of the Championships
Michael Hartfield, OSU
Coach of the Year
Larry Wieczorek, IOWA
First Team
Stanley Azie, ILL
Andrew Riley, ILL
Azeez Shogbuyi, ILL
Cody Wisslead, ILL
Josh Zinzer, ILL
Ben Hubers, IND
De'Sean Turner, IND
Justin Austin, IOWA
Matt Byers, IOWA
Troy Doris, IOWA
Lonnie Pugh, MSU
Hassan Mead, MINN
Quentin Mege, MINN
Marvel Brooks, OSU
Michael Hartfield, OSU
Cody Marshall, OSU
Thomas Murdaugh, OSU
Heath Nickles, OSU
Aaron Roberts, OSU
Korbin Smith, OSU
Blake Eaton, PSU
Casimir Loxsom, PSU
Shane Crawford, PUR
Geoff Davis, PUR
Reed Connor, WIS
Second Team
Kind Butler, IND
Devin Pipkin, IND
Andrew Poore, IND
Tyler Sult, IND
Chris Vaughn, IND
Chris Barton, IOWA
Ethan Holmes, IOWA
Erik Sowinski, IOWA
Steven Willey, IOWA
Bradley James, MICH
Brock Spandl, MINN
Stephen MacDonald, OSU
Ryan Foster, PSU
Joe Kovacs, PSU
Billy Hardcastle, PUR
Chris Thoman, PUR
Mohammed Ahmed, WIS
