Chambana Sun

The Illinois track and field teams participated in the first day of the Big Ten Outdoor Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Junior Tori Thomas became the Big Ten Champion in women's pole vault by clearing a meet record height of 4.52 meters (14-10). She is the first Illini woman to achieve this title since Stephanie Richartz in 2015 and only the second ever from Illinois.

Sophomore Mia Morello secured a bronze medal in pole vault with a mark of 4.22 meters (13-10), contributing six points to her team's score. This marks a historic achievement for Illinois as it's the first time two women pole vaulters have placed in the top three at these championships.

In other events, graduate student Amber Simpson earned a bronze medal in hammer throw with a distance of 66.18 meters (217-1), while junior Phethisang Makhethe placed eighth with a throw of 60.35 meters (198-0). Freshman Eleftherios Kontonikola took fifth place in javelin with a throw of 68.01 meters (223-1).

Senior Jack Roberts finished sixth in his debut 10,000-meter race on track, timing at 29:39.55. Senior Robert Williams recorded his season-best time of 50.52 seconds in the 400-meter hurdles to win his heat and advance to Sunday's finals.

Junior Jessica McDowell also won her heat in the 200-meter dash, securing her place for Sunday's finals with a time of 23.31 seconds. Freshman Sophia Beckmon will join McDowell after running the seventh-fastest qualifying time at 23.63 seconds.

Junior Halle Hill and senior Will O'Brien both automatically qualified for Sunday's finals by placing second in their respective heats for the 1500-meter race, clocking times of 4:23.43 and a season-best of 3:52.93 respectively.

The women's team scores after day one saw Nebraska and Penn State tied at first with thirty points each, while Illinois was third with twenty-three points. On the men's side, Nebraska led with twenty-two points, followed by Iowa and Wisconsin.