Senior wins third NCAA title; Riley an All-American again

By The News-Gazette

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Illinois sophomore Andrew Riley broke his own school record to advance to the finals of the 60-meter hurdles at the NCAA Indoor track meet Friday.

Riley finished second in his heat with a time of 7.61 seconds. It was the third-fastest time among the qualifiers.

ORANGE PARK, Fla. — Illinois' Hailey Koschmann carded a second-round 70 to take a 5-stroke lead into today's final round at the JMU Eagle Landing Invitational.

Koschmann, who was at 5-under-par 139, helped lead the Illini to third place in the team standings at 602. Central Arkansas was first at 596, and South Florida was second at 599.

Lee Sentman

Lee Sentman Jr., one of Illinois' greatest all-time track and field performers, was born today in 1910. A letter winner in 1929, '30 and '31, he was a graduate of Decatur High School. Sentman's time of 7.4 seconds in the indoor 60-yard high hurdles in 1931 was the fastest time recorded by a UI track athlete. It wasn't until 1954 that Willard Thompson became the second Illini to run a 7.4. At one period, Sentman held world records in every high hurdles event from 60 through 75 yards. The 1930 Illini team finished third in the NCAA Outdoor Championships. That same year, Sentman was awarded the Big Ten Conference Medal of Honor for achievement in academics and athletics. He graduated from the UI in 1931 with a degree in civil engineering and had an outstanding career as a construction executive in Champaign-Urbana. During World War II, Sentman served as executive officer to the chief of construction at Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower's headquarters. One of Sentman's four sons, Lee Sentman III, also became an Illini athlete, lettering in fencing during the late 1950s. The Sentmans are one of the few father-son combinations to win the Big Ten Medal. Lee Sentman Jr. died April 5, 1996, at the age of 86.

CHAMPAIGN – Sarah Schmidt won the all-around for the second time in her career and No. 13 Illinois swept the individual titles to bury Ohio State in women's gymnastics Saturday at Huff Hall.

Illinois won 196.300-194.700.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Senior Angela Bizzarri won her second Big Ten title of the weekend Sunday, breaking her own school record en route to the 5,000-meter crown.

"Angela had a great weekend," Illini coach Tonja Buford-Bailey said. "She's got two more Big Ten titles under her belt, so she should be very happy to go out like that as a senior."

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. – Angela Bizzarri and Aja Evans set school records to help Illinois' women's team to second place after Day 1 of the Big Ten Indoor Championships.

At 9-1, Illinois is off to its best 10-game start since 2003, when it also opened 9-1. The Illini nearly cracked this week's USA Today/NFCA Top 25, earning the 26th-most votes. Illinois enters Friday's 12:30 p.m. matchup against the Seminoles 1-1 against ranked opponents this season.