Yeah, Illinois looks good. Oregon only has a runner in the 3000m for women. Illinois has the 4x400 women relay to go. If my math adds up then Illinois women will be the BIG10Champs. If Illinois had more sprinters and hurdlers they would be a dominant program along with there field events..
Illini Track & Field, Cross Country 2026
USC and Nebraska can't. Oregon can. All depends on the 3000.
I forgot to mention that the women have a couple of athletes that didn't compete in the indoor season but will compete in the outdoor season that are outstanding.
They only have one runner in the 3000 and no entries in the 4x400 or 200
They have four in the 3000.
I guess I missed the other 2 Oregon entrants in the 3k!
Yeah, that is true. Oregon scored 46 points in the 3000m and 5000m. Oregon will be the BIG10 Champions. I don't know how in the hell Illinois is ranked #1 in the nation with all the depth that Oregon has on their roster.
Dan
Admin
Illinois Women’s Track and Field Finishes Second at Big Ten Indoor Championships - University of Illinois Athletics
The women's squad scored 93 points to finish in second place for the second-consecutive season.
fightingillini.com
Because once you get to Nationals and there are a lot more schools and depth doesn’t score as many points. It’s the people at the top that do. Illinois also struggled in the triple-jump and pentathlon (minus the top-2). They easily could’ve scored another 10 points to win it.
Dan
Admin
Illinois Track and Field Sends Program Record 18 Individual Qualifiers to NCAA Indoor Championships - University of Illinois Athletics
Kyprianou continues to improve the program each year as he shattered his own program record for qualifiers he set last season with 15, 11 of them women.
fightingillini.com
Based on seedings I can see how we could win it - Beckmon and Humphries are seeded first in the LJ and pentathlon, and 9 others will score points based on seeding
It looks like Illinois is guaranteed a Top 4 finish at the NCAAS. A top 4 will get you a trophy. The championship will come down to Illinois, Oregon and Florida. Illinois still have women in the high jump, triple jump and pole vault. Let's hope the women don't choke. They finished 5th last year.
Megan Humphries choked as she came into nationals with the most points in the pentathlon in the country ..She didn't get not 1 point as she finished outside the top 8 and that could very well cost Illinois a National Championship.
Oregon didn't score any points in the 5k at nationals vs. Big 10's when they went 1-2-3 (25 points). Only one of them ran the 5k this time, but even if you put in the same times, the best finish is 10th. That's why they can win a B10 title but not a national title.
I don't think that's accurate. BYU, Arkansas, Oregon, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and Texas Tech could all score above 30 points, with the first-4 as the biggest threats.
Here is a table that shows projections based on season bests that is handy to look at.
DReq
Always Illini
- Central Illinois
I do love the fact that we are suddenly relevant in T&F. It is obvious that a coaching change does wonders for the talent level that comes in. I am not a big follower of the team sport and have a question for those of you who are. Is it customary for a team to develop this way with field events improving first and running events coming along later or do we just have a coach who does a great job getting field athletes but not runners?
The time I posted this message the other teams didnt have a lot of athletes in the final events. Oregon only had 2 and Illinois had 6 for the womens side. If futher updates came after then I can see why you added BYU, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and Texas Tech. If Humpries had done her part and won her event that would have been another 10 points to guarantee Illinois a TOP 4 FINISH AND BRING A TROPHY HOME!!
I don’t think that’s right it looks like a lot more teams are in contention
Teams are no longer built to win dual meets (which requires placing athletes in most every event). The focus is on major meets. There are three schools of thought. You can build a team based on sprinters and hurdlers (who can typically also sprint). You can build with distance runners who can double in cross country. You can build with field events, which hardly anyone does. It's a money ball approach because few are willing to spend scarce resources on these nonglamorous events. Some field events are rarely offered to high school students in the U.S. (hammer, javelin, decathlon, pentathlon, even pole vault) so most high caliber athletes in those events are developed overseas. Kyprianou has many contacts abroad. He competed in Cypress and has coached for national teams in Ghana, Cypress, Estonia and Greece. Look at his current roster and you find a great presence from those, and other, foreign countries: https://fightingillini.com/sports/womens-track-and-field/roster
2025-26 Men's Track & Field Roster - University of Illinois Athletics
The official 2025-26 Men's Track & Field Roster for the University of Illinois Fighting Illini
fightingillini.com
Once you establish a program that is competitive nationally and have athletes who go on to compete internationally, it becomes easier to attract high level athletes for all events.
Looks like it might be easier for us to win a national title than the Big Ten. Big Ten simply has no distance runners to challenge Oregon, whereas today's national meet has plenty of women to challenge Oregon's distance runners.
Unlike Illinois, Oregon best athletes perform and always come thru in winning time. Oregon has 5 athletes left and can get up to 44 points. No one will catch them. Illinois best athletes didn't perform to that level despite having highly ranked athletes in their events. At this moment Illinois has 42 points and Oregon has 20 so we know how this go end. I expect Oregon to finish at the top of the podium.
Unfortunately, it looks like we left a lot of points on the board in the Pentathlon; that will probably cost us the title
I've mentioned that for the last 12 hours. Humphries was the #1 Pentathlon in the country and she doesn't score a point. No points in the triple jump and Illinois had 3 finalist. No points in the pole vault. All that being said they will still finish in the Top 4 and bring a trophy home. I think they can do better in outdoors because they will have some very good sprinters available.
It looks like Illinois will finish 3rd bringing home a trophy. Illinois left a lot of points on the board but to finish behind Georgia and Oregon, 2 perennial powers, is impressive. The women and men basketball teams are going dancing and the women's track and field finishing 3rd in the nation has been a great weekend.