Chambana Sun

The Illinois men's and women's track and field teams concluded their participation in the Tiger Paw Invitational on Saturday, February 10, in Clemson, South Carolina. Freshman Cody Johnston made notable progress by improving his program's seventh-best mark in pole vault to 5.38 meters, securing a second-place finish. Junior Jessica McDowell achieved the program's eighth-fastest time in the 200 meters with a timing of 23.77 seconds, placing her 26th.

Freshman Rose Yeboah matched her personal best and school record in the high jump at 1.88 meters, earning her second place in the invitational section. Junior Bara Sajdokova secured fourth place with a jump of 1.85 meters. Graduate student Taylor Beard triumphed in the open section with a season-best clearance of 1.75 meters.

In other events, junior Darja Sopova claimed third place in the triple jump invitational with a distance of 13.18 meters. Juniors Kam Garrett and Jackson Marseille tied for fifth place in the men's high jump by clearing 2.10 meters.

Senior Tyler Sudduth finished fifth in the shot put invitational with an effort of 18.67 meters, closely followed by fellow senior Will Rezny who placed sixth at 18.03 meters. Sophomore Viktor Morozov narrowly missed tying his college-best mark in the triple jump but recorded a season-best leap of 15.92 meters to finish sixth.

The women's relay team comprising Jessica McDowell, Madison Hardamon, Asia Thomas, and Azariyah Bryant achieved an eleventh-place finish with a season-best time of 3:37.82 minutes in the 4x400 meter relay event. The men's relay team featuring Jackson Gilbert, Tadeas Placek, Robert Williams, and Michail Rose also set a season-best time of 3:11.08 minutes to secure thirteenth place.

The Illini track and field teams are scheduled to compete next at the Big Ten Indoor Championships on February 23-24 in Geneva, Ohio.