On This Day In History | 1949

Downey with coaches Stuart Gillis & Pierson Curtis at the Brook in 1945

On this day 69 years ago, Bill Downey ’45 took third in the 880 yard run for the University of Illinois to help the Fighting Illini sweep the event in front of an overflow crowd of 5,217 in Champaign. Don Shuman and Herman Waarich nabbed the first two spots while Downey took third in 2:00.7. The sweep helped power Illinois to a 63-51 victory over Minnesota.

Downey finished the indoor season as the team’s leading point scorer with 50.

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