Allen Carius

Celebrating his 68th birthday Thursday is former Illini cross-country and track and field star Allen Carius. The Morton native was a two-time cross-country champion at Illinois for coach Phil Coleman. He also was a three-time 2-mile titlist in the Big Ten. Carius ran competitively until 1968 and at the end of the 1966 season had the United States' fifth-best time in the 3,000-meter steeplechase (8:48). After serving two years as a graduate assistant at Illinois, Carius became head cross-country and track and field coach at North Central College (NCC). He soon will begin his 46th season as NCC's mentor, establishing a dynasty that is unmatched at the collegiate level. Thirteen times his cross-country teams have won national titles, including three in a row from 1997 through 1999. Carius' Cardinals have finished runner-up 12 times in 35 years of NCAA Division III competition. North Central has five NCAA Division III Outdoor Track and Field titles and two NCAA Division III Indoor Track and Field titles. Of 64 CCIW Outdoor Track & Field Championships that have been contested, Carius' teams have won 32 times. NCC swept the indoor and outdoor titles for the second time and became only the second program in Division III history to win the national cross-country, indoor track and field, and outdoor track and field championships in the same academic year. Carius was honored as cross-country "Coach of the Century," as well as being named NCAA Division III Cross-Country Coach of the Year in 1993, 1995, 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2009. He is also a member of numerous Halls of Fame, including that of the Illinois Track and Cross-Country Coaches, the United States Track and Field and Cross-Country Coaches Association, and the Drake Relays. In October 2006, he became an honorary alumnus of North Central. He, wife Pam and their children live in Naperville.

CHAMPAIGN — Davis Fraker, the 2010 New Balance Nationals champion in the shot put, highlights a group of 10 signees in Mike Turk’s first recruiting class for the Illinois men’s track and field team.

The Illini interim head coach announced the signings, which include 2010 News-Gazette Track and Field Athlete of the Year Brandon Noe of St. Thomas More, on Friday.

CHAMPAIGN – The status of the Illinois men's track and field coaching staff for next season is status quo.

That includes the job title of Mike Turk, who will serve as interim head coach for a second consecutive year.

1979 — Men's outdoor track and field at Memorial Stadium

Fans saw Renaldo Nehemiah, who still holds collegiate record, win 110 hurdles

MIRAMAR, Fla. — Illinois’ Colin Mickow finished second in the 10,000 meters Friday in the NACAC (North American, Central American and Caribbean Athletic Association) Under-23 Championships.

Mickow was timed in 30:42.16.

DES MOINES, Iowa — Illinois senior Aja Evans finished seventh in the shot put with a toss of 54 feet, 91/2 inches Saturday at the USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships.
Evans, a five-time All-American, finished seven spots better than she did last year.

Thirty-four years ago, former Illini track star Mike Durkin qualified for the 1976 United States Olympic Team by running the fastest 1,500-meter race of his life – a time of 3 minutes, 36.72 seconds – finishing third to Rick Wohlhuter and Matt Centrowitz.

It was about four seconds faster than his previous best time of 3:40.3 and the equivalent of a 3:54 mile. A product of Chicago's Holy Cross High School, Durkin competed during the golden age of prep distance running in Illinois. He finished second in the state meet in the mile in his junior and senior years despite running times that would win state championships almost any other year. As a junior in 1970, Durkin ran a state-record time of 4:09.5 but narrowly lost to Andy Rupert of Proviso West. In his senior year, he ran the mile in 4:07.3 but lost by a second to Dave Merrick of Lincoln Way. At Illinois, Durkin had a stellar career, winning nine individual Big Ten track championships. His freshman year at Illinois he captured the Big Ten outdoor mile run title, defeating Michigan State's reigning NCAA indoor mile champion Ken Popejoy. After graduating from Illinois in 1975, Durkin decided to stop running despite having run a 3:56.7 mile his senior year and focused on law school and working at Chicago's Merchandise Mart. Eight months later, after watching an Illini track meet at the Armory, he once again caught the running bug and eventually qualified for the '76 Olympic team. At the Montreal Games, Durkin ran an excellent time of 3:38.7 in his first-round heat of the 1,500 but missed qualifying for the semifinals by one-tenth of a second because of an unusually fast first-round heat after his. The gold-medal race was won with a time slower than Durkin had run in his heat. For the next two years he attended and graduated from law school, passing the bar in 1978 and beginning his legal career at the firm that he is now a name partner of, now called Storino, Ramello & Durkin. In 1979, he decided to begin training for the 1980 Olympic Trials. Durkin again finished third at the Trials to earn the final spot in the 1,500 on the Olympic team. His dream for a second Olympic experience was shattered when then-President Jimmy Carter persuaded the U.S. Olympic Committee to boycott the Moscow Summer Games. Durkin is currently village attorney for Elmwood Park, Forest Park and Streamwood.

DES MOINES, Iowa — Illinois’ Angela Bizzarri placed fifth in the 5,000 meters Friday at the U.S. Track & Field Outdoor Championships.
Bizzarri was timed in 15 minutes, 39.81 seconds.