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CHAMPAIGN – Look in the media guide for the Illinois men's track and field team and you'll see Sciota, Ill., listed as Cody Wisslead's hometown.

Truth be told, the Illini sophomore grew up on a farm located about 5 miles from the west central Illinois community.

Truth be told, too, there isn't much difference between Sciota and the Wisslead farmstead.

The former, according to the latest U.S. census, has a population of 58 and one industry: a grain elevator. The latter, at least when all of Jim and Pam Wisslead's children were still living at home, had a population of five and continues to operate one business: growing and selling corn and soybeans.

Nothing personal, but Cody Wisslead's so-called hometown didn't see much of him.

"There's no reason to go into town, really," he said. "I drove through it every day on my way to (high) school, but pretty much the only thing in the town is the grain elevator. ... I'd haul grain for my dad in there sometimes.

"That's the only reason I went into town."

In an area where entertainment opportunities were limited – Wisslead and friends sometimes would make the 15-mile drive to Macomb to catch a movie – sports were a strong draw for the All-Big Ten second-teamer and 2008 NCAA All-Mideast Region honoree. And no sport had more of a pull on Wisslead than track. He credits older brother Clint with setting the example he would follow.

"I get my love of track from him," Cody said. "He's six years older than I am and I went with my parents to all (his) meets. My mother would pull me out of school half an hour early to go to my brother's meets."

Those treks inspired younger brother to head out to the backyard for his own imaginary track meets and to improvise for his imaginary hurdles races.

"He told me he started hurdling by jumping over pine trees when he was younger; little trees," Illini teammate Dan Jones said. "It's just funny to me."

But Jones doesn't doubt Wisslead's account.

"Yeah, I believe him," the sophomore sprinter said. "I don't see how else he could get that talented."

As a seventh-grader at Sciota Northwestern, Wisslead won the Illinois Elementary School Association Class 7A state title in the 110-meter high hurdles. He repeated the next year in Class 8A.

By his sophomore year at West Prairie High, Wisslead was a Class A state runner-up in the 300 intermediate hurdles. Then Wisslead not only won back-to-back state titles in the event; he ran what are still the two fastest times in Class A state meet history (37.33 seconds and 37.35).

To put those feats in perspective, Wisslead's times were faster than former Illini All-American and two-time Big Ten 400 hurdles champ Abe Jones ran in the Class AA state meet.

Find and seek

Illini coach Wayne Angel vividly recalls a recruiting visit to the Wisslead homestead. And not just because he initially lost his way. Deciding to stop at a house amid the cornfields in hopes of receiving directions, Angel discovered he had knocked on the door of Wisslead family relatives.

"You can't get lost out here because he's got cousins everywhere," Angel said.

Angel's greater challenge was convincing Wisslead to attend Illinois, population 40,000.

"He was so intimidated and so unsure of himself," the Illini coach recalled.

Wisslead wavered long enough that Angel finally gave the recruit an ultimatum. During a phone conversation while the UI coach was in Arizona recruiting, he told Wisslead he had until the end of the day to say yes or no. Then Angel gave the small-town senior some unsolicited advice.

"This is not as big a thing as you think it is, and you can be a success here," Angel told Wisslead. "But you've got to get out of that small-town mentality."

Before the day was over, Wisslead dialed Angel's cell phone number.

"I'm coming, Coach."

Not surprisingly, Wisslead still was apprehensive when he arrived at the UI. Coming from a 257-student high school – and a graduating class of about 65 – the crops sciences major was in foreign territory in more ways than one.

"Coming in my freshman year, yeah, it was a little nerve-wracking, not knowing anyone," he said. "But I got adjusted real quick. Met some people and my teammates, so ever since then it's been fun."

Wisslead's rural roots haven't escaped the attention of his teammates, It's a topic of teasing by guys like Indianapolis native Dan Jones, who before a recent practice shouted to the West Prairie grad, "Hey, how many people were in your high school. Like 30?' "

Quickly on track

If there was any question whether Wisslead would be up to the challenge of major college track, he quickly answered. In his first outdoor season, the then-freshman scored points at the Big Ten Championships in both hurdles events and qualified for the NCAA Mideast Regionals.

This spring, the sophomore placed fourth in the Big Ten 400 hurdles in a career-best 51.48 seconds. With that clocking, Wisslead became the ninth-fastest individual in the event in UI history. When team awards were passed around recently, he received the Most Improved Sprinter prize.

"This year, his learning curve, he's just really advanced," Angel said. "Each year he gets stronger, he's going to get faster."

Perhaps even fast enough, the UI coach says, to eventually threaten Abe Jones' standing as Illinois' all-time No. 2 400 hurdler (49.81).

"I think if he just pushes a little bit more on maybe hurdles 6 and 7, he can probably go under 51 seconds," Angel said. "By the time he's a senior, he could be running as fast as Abe Jones."

The versatile Wisslead has proven to be much more than a hurdler. Before the 2008 Mideast Regionals, Angel was forced on short notice to fill one of the spots on his 1,600 relay team due to an ineligibility. He settled on Wisslead, who responded by helping the unit place seventh and earn All-Region honors.

Two weeks ago, Wisslead again was Angel's go-to guy when an unexpected hole developed in the Illini's 400 relay lineup. When Roger Jones missed the Big Ten meet to attend a funeral, Wisslead stepped in. Not only did the revamped relay place second, but for the first time this season it ran a regional-qualifying time (40.63).

"Every time something happens, he's always the next guy up and he always outperforms everybody's expectations," Dan Jones said. "So he's really valuable to a team. It just shows how much heart he has and how much of a team player he really is."

Roger Jones will be back in the 400 relay lineup this weekend for the Mideast Regional Championships in Louisville, Ky., and so will Wisslead. Angel has decided to pull Andrew Riley from the relay to allow the Big Ten Freshman of the Year to concentrate on the 110 hurdles and replace him with Wisslead.

"I'm just doing what any other teammate would do; just doing anything for their team," Wisslead said. "I like the 4 by 1 because I've always done it in grade school and high school. It's always been an event that I liked."

Wisslead, who qualified for both hurdles events at regionals, will bypass the 110 hurdles while competing in the 400 relay and 400 hurdles. He's seeded 10th in the latter event, 0.42 second behind the No. 5 seed. The top five finishers in each regional automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships, but a handful of at-large bids also will be awarded from a national pool.

Angel is optimistic Wisslead, as he has so often, will rise to the occasion.

"Anything can happen," Angel said. "If Cody can go under 51 (seconds) and let's say he finishes eighth, ... he can make nationals. I think he's going to surprise himself if he just lets go and does what he's capable of."