Baldwin Tallies 6,224 Points In First Multi Of 2026; Luuk Pelkmans Breaks Illinois Record In Collegiate Debut; Cheyenne Nesbitt Wins Second Consecutive Pentathlon Title

By Keenan Gray of DyeStat

Photos courtesy of Illinois Athletics

RESULTS/VIDEOS

Heath Baldwin recorded a world-leading score of 6,224 points in his heptathlon season debut during the first two days of the Fighting Illini Challenge Thursday and Friday at the University of Illinois Armory in Champaign.

Baldwin, former Michigan State standout turned Illinois assistant coach, led by 150 points after the first four events, winning the high jump (6-11.75/2.13m), long jump (24-11/7.59m) and shot put (15.46m) and finishing fourth in the 60 meters (7.07) to bring his day one total to 3,558 points.

Baldwin began day two with a win in the men's 60 hurdles in 7.97, then followed with a third-place finish in pole vault (15-9/4.80m) and second-place finish in the 1,000 (2:44.14) to round his total score.

Illinois' Luuk Pelkmans, a freshman from The Netherlands, broke the school record with an NCAA-leading 6,127 points, bettering fellow Dutchman Jip de Greef's school record of 6,046. De Greef finished third with 5,994 points, which would rank No. 4 on the Illinois all-time list.

Pelkmans finished strong on the final day with a win in the 1,000 in 2:38.33 following three second-place finishes in the high jump (6-9.50/2.07m), long jump (24-8.25/7.52m) and shot put (48-10.75/14.90m). His 6,127 points are also a world No. 2 this season and ranks No. 17 on the all-time collegiate indoor list.

Wisconsin's Darius Jones Jr. and Jack Schmeling finished fourth (5,679) and sixth (4,726), respectively, and Arkansas State's Kercher Herring finished fifth (5,131). All three also made their collegiate debuts.

Former 10-time NCAA Division II champion Cheyenne Nesbitt defended her pentathlon title in come-from-behind fashion, totaling 4,346 points.

Trailing by 51 points to Illinois freshman JaiCieonna Gero-Holt going into the final event, Nesbitt clawed her way back the overall standings in the 800, winning in 2:18.06 to secure 850 points and separate her winning margin by 30 points. Nesbitt won the 60 hurdles to begin the day in 8.26, finished second in the long jump (19-11/6.07m) and shot put (43-8.50/13.32m) and finished fourth in high jump (5-5.25/1.66m).

Illinois pentathlon record holder Lucie Kienast finished second to Nesbitt for a second consecutive year, scoring an NCAA-leading 4,316 points. After finishing ninth in the 60 hurdles (8.94), the sophomore from Germany piled up her point total in the long jump, winning with a mark of 20-7.25 (6.28m), and two second-place finishes in the high jump (5-8.75/1.75m) and 800 (2:18.46). Her score would rank second to her own school record of 4,405.

Gero-Holt, competing in her first multi competition in a little over 1.5 years, impressed in her collegiate debut, scoring an NCAA#2 4,229 points, moving her to No. 2 on the school's all-time list behind Kienast. She is just the fourth athlete in school history to surpass 4,000 points, joining Kienast, Marissa Golliday (No. 3) and Carmel Corbett (No.4).

Gero-Holt won both the high jump (6-0.50/1.84m) and shot put (45-6.50/13.88m), third in 60 hurdles (8.59), fourth in long jump (18-6/5.64m) and sixth in 800 (2:31.37).